DoT meets telcos, equipment makers to chalk out 5G road map; Huawei present too
The Indian Express
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) officials met telecom operators and equipment makers on Tuesday to discuss the details such as the circle and population areas that 5G trials could cover. In a meeting that lasted over an hour, all telecom operators as well as some equipment makers such as Nokia, Zte, and Huawei made presentations about their preparedness in helping with the commencement of 5G trials, said people aware of the development. DoT as well as company officials, however, declined to share other details from the meeting, which was chaired by Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash.
The meeting on Tuesday was held barely 24 hours after the government decided to give all telcos and equipment vendors, including Huawei, the permission to participate in 5G trials in India. The decision to give the Chinese telecom equipment making giant the nod to participate in 5G trials assumes significance in the face of global scrutiny that the telecom equipment maker faces for security-related threats.
To allay security fears, Huawei India’s CEO, in June 2019, said the company was ready to sign a “no backdoor” agreement with the government. Under the agreement, Huawei would vouch that it did not gain access to any Indian customer’s equipment under any circumstance.The Chinese manufacturer has offered to sign as well as signed similar agreements with other governments. However, the US was among the first major nations to ban Huawei, following an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump in May 2019. Trump had earlier asked US companies to not use Huawei, alleging that it was a tool of Chinese intelligence agencies. During his visit to India in 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met his counterpart. S Jaishankar as well as the then Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and discussed the “risks that Chinese-built communication networks, including 5G” posed to countries.
Meeting on USOF, licence fee next week
Apart from the meeting on Tuesday, the DoT will also have formal consultations with Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), telcos, equipment vendors and Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA) in the coming week to discuss reduction in Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) and licence fee, top government officials said.
”As per the Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) recommendations, USOF charge should be reduced from 5 to 3 per cent, and the licence fee should come down from 8 to 6 per cent. We will see what else is on the wish list of the companies. By 10-11th of January, we will formally write to the Ministry of Finance,” a senior DoT official said, requesting anonymity.
The issue of reduction in USOF and licence fee is also likely to be placed before the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) in its next meeting, sources said. The DCC, which has representatives from the Finance Ministry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, IT Ministry, and NITI Aayog, had earlier this month accepted all the recommendations of Trai on spectrum auction, including on keeping the reserve prices for the sale of 8,300 megahertz (MHz) spectrum at Rs 5.22 lakh crore. The upcoming spectrum auctions, including the sale of 5G band, are scheduled to take place between March and April 2020.
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