TEMA Raises National Security Concern with PM

 

According to the communication sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and to the Minister of Home Affair’s office, TEMA has raised the issue of “too much dependability” on the foreign telecommunication Companies for the Indian telecommunication Infrastructure, thereby raising the vulnerability of National Threat. “The United States of America too has similar concerns as India’s. They have taken the issue of large scale use of foreign made equipments in their telecom networks seriously. We are in a much worse condition, as almost all the critical sub systems  of our nationwide telecom network have  foreign equipment in it and we are not taking any concrete step in mitigating  this potential threat which exists by promoting the use of indigenous equipments into the network, ” said Ashok K. Aggarwal, Honorary Director General, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association.

 In its communiqué, TEMA has drawn UPA Government’s attention towards the recent investigation initiated by the US House of Representative’s PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE on INTELLIGENCE (HPSCI) to gauge the level of threat posed to the United States and take the necessary steps to mitigate the same. 

TEMA has further drawn attention towards the survey where the US Commerce Department has asked for a detailed accounting of foreign-made hardware/software on the service provider’s network along with the information related to security incidents such as discovery of “unauthorized electronic hardware” or suspicious equipment capable of duplicating or redirecting data. Referring to various media report and occasional statements made by various Government officials regarding the potential threat due to imported and untested telecommunication components present in the telecommunication infrastructure, the TEMA has drawn the attention of the UPA Government towards the recent developments in the United States of America. 

  

It its communication TEMA has suggested the Indian Government to take cognizance of this situation before it reaches an alarming proportion through continuous use of imported equipment. In this context, TEMA has been suggesting to make it mandatory for the Indian telecom service providers to induct homemade equipment for which complete know-how and expertise in available in the country and is not be susceptible to hijacking the control by any foreign country through use of hidden spyware.