India allows Huawei to participate in 5G trials

NEW DELHI: The government has decided to allow all network equipment makers, including Huawei, to participate in 5G trials. This is the first time that India, caught in a diplomatic and economic tussle between the US and China, has taken an official stance on the matter. It boosts the Chinese company’s hopes of playing a part in the deployment of the next-generation technology in India despite US objections.“5G trials will be done with all vendors and operators,” telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters on Monday. “We have taken an in-principle decision to give 5G spectrum for trials.” On being asked specifically about Huawei, Prasad said that at this stage, all vendors are invited.While mobile phone companies that will be allotted 5G spectrum took the comments as a green signal to work with the Chinese vendors, not just for trials but also future deployments, a top government official cautioned that the clearance was only for the test phase.The US has been pressuring its allies and friendly countries, including India, to bar Huawei from 5G deployments, flagging security concerns and citing the company’s alleged proximity to the Chinese government. China has on its part warned India of economic consequences if Huawei was excluded from 5G development and deployments.Countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Taiwan besides the US are keeping Huawei out of 5G deployments, while others including France, the Netherlands, Russia and South Korea have allowed the Chinese equipment maker to participate. Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy and Indonesia are among those currently on the fence.So far, India had kept its decision pending on this issue.73039147 The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has invited all stakeholders such as operators and vendors, including Huawei, on Tuesday to discuss the 5G field trial road map, top officials said.Huawei welcomed the development. “We have also read the news in media and we thank the Indian government for their continued faith in Huawei,” said Huawei India CEO Jay Chen. “We firmly believe that only technology innovations and high-quality networks will be the key to rejuvenating the Indian telecom industry… Huawei is always committed to India.”Major global equipment vendors in India include European companies Ericsson and Nokia, China’s Huawei and ZTE and South Korea’s Samsung. Vodafone Idea has applied to partner with Ericsson and Huawei for 5G trials, while Bharti Airtel has sought permission to conduct trials with Nokia, Huawei and Ericsson. Rival Reliance Jio Infocomm has applied for a pilot initiative with Samsung.Rajan Mathews, director general of lobby group the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said Prasad’s comments provided much-needed clarity to mobile phone companies on 5G partnerships. “This was the clarity that we needed on telcos partnering with Huawei and ZTE on both trials and deployment,” he said. “Now we are pleased to note that they (Huawei and ZTE) will continue to be able to partner, along with other OEMs (original equipment makers), with telcos on 5G trials and deployment going ahead.”COAI represents all three non-state telcos – Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Jio. The companies have been seeking clarity on Huawei’s participation in 5G, saying they didn’t want to be wrong-footed in the future with billions of dollars at stake. Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal had in October called for allowing Huawei to take part in India’s 5G rollout. He said that the gear maker’s 3G and 4G equipment was better than that of European vendors.DEPLOYMENT CALL LATERA senior DoT official said the latest clearance was only for 5G trials and not deployments. “We will consider that later,” he said. Sources said the government hopes to use the trials to scrutinise potential vulnerabilities and then take a final call on 5G deployments. The US presidential election in November could play a part in India’s final decision, said an industry expert. “But allowing them for 5G trials is a big step forward,” he said. Some analysts have said that barring the Chinese vendors could mean increasing the cost of 5G for consumers in India by 15-20%, besides a delay in rollout. Huawei is said to be at least a year ahead of its rivals in 5G technology development.India’s 5G trials have been long delayed. They were first scheduled to take place earlier this year but got stuck on modalities such as pricing and trial tenure. On taking over as the telecom minister in June, Prasad said that his priority would be to start trials within 100 days, a deadline that also passed. Recently, telecom secretary Anshu Prakash said trials would be held in January 2020.Prasad had informed the Lok Sabha in June that the government had received as many as six proposals for 5G pilot programmes that would be undertaken only through licensed service providers.

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