The Chinese gear manufacturer ZTE has been given permission by the government to supply Vodafone Idea (Vi) with optical transmission equipment worth over 200 crore rupees for a network upgrade project. In order to be qualified to sell telecom network equipment under new contracts, ZTE and its Chinese rival Huawei have also filed extra documentation to the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). This is a need for being a "trusted source."

 

According to a government official, the Indian telco completed the necessary paperwork and clarified that the agreement is an expansion or upgrade of the current network, not a new contract, before NSCS approved Vi's arrangement with ZTE. Although Huawei technology is used in the networks in the circles, ZTE will be the only company responsible for the extension work.

 

The Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh (MP-CG) circles will be upgraded.

 

"Since it's an upgradation of the existing network, Vi was eligible for exemption. They have informed us about the deal and clarified some questions," the official said. An industry executive said the Vi-ZTE contract was possibly the largest for the Chinese vendor since India-China border clashes broke out in 2020. ZTE had only bagged some very small-ticket deals in the last few years.

 

As of the time of going to print, ZTE, Huawei, and Vi had not responded to any inquiries.

 

A supplier must be designated by the NSCS as a "trusted source," and the equipment must be designated as a "trusted product," in order to qualify for new telecom network equipment contracts.

 

Even though the two businesses had long since submitted applications for the "trusted source" designation, no progress was being made on their cases as competitors like Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia saw their applications granted. Due to ongoing border tensions, the two Chinese corporations have also stopped looking into the situation.