Even as the rules for mandatory testing and certification of telecommunication equipment (MTCTE) will largely come into effect from January 1, the government in a relief to telcos has again extended the deadline for complying with the rules for 12 out of 44 key telecom gears, according to a notification by the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC).
The MTCTE guidelines provide that every telecom equipment must undergo mandatory testing and certification before it is put into sale and used for network rollouts. The implementation of such a regime is key to ensuring that only quality and secured equipment are used in the networks.
The deadline for these equipment is a relief for telcos in the sense that currently, they are rolling out 5G networks across the country. Mandatory testing and certification of equipment could delay the process of network deployments for them, an industry executive said. One of the reasons that the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents major telecom operators, had put forth earlier was the absence of testing and certification infrastructure in the country.
In June when the deadline for MTCTE was extended for the second time, COAI had said that the pace of network deployment was faster than the setting up of testing labs in the country, which might hinder the network rollout process as well.
A Department of Telecommunications (DoT) task force led by Rakesh Bhatnagar, director general of the VoICE consortium, had said that postponing the implementation would not only hinder the growth of the domestic telecommunications industry but also compromise the quality and safety of the equipment being used.
According to the TEC website, there are 63 testing and certification labs designated by the organisation. Apart from TEC-designated labs, companies such as HFCL, STL, and Birla Cables, have already invested in developing testing infrastructure which can be used for MTCTE testing.
Lately, the government has been emphasising the use of equipment from trusted sources and the MTCTE norms are also in the direction of ensuring that only secured equipment enters the territory of the country.
In the recently enacted Telecommunications Act as well, the government has said it can issue directions for procurement of telecommunication equipment and telecommunication services only from trusted sources.