Published 20:26 IST, December 31st 2019
India's 5G trials: RSS' Swadeshi Jagaran Manch requests PM Modi to ban Chinese companies
After the Centre greenlighted China's entry into India's 5G trials in 2020 Swadeshi Jagaran Manch has written to PM Modi to restrict Chinese cos from 5G trials
After the Centre greenlighted China's entry into India's 5G trials in 2020, National Convener of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch Ashwani Mahajan, on Tuesday, has written to Prime Minister Modi to restrict Chinese companies from conducting 5G trials in India. The Swadeshi Jagran Manch is an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and deals with economic issues. The organisation which had former RBI governor Swaminathan Gurumurthy as ist co-convener has been critical of foreign direct investment in India.
Swadeshi Jagaran Manch opposes China's entry in 5G trials
India allows all to participate in 5G trials
Earlier on Monday, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that all telecom players including Huawei will be allowed to participate in 5G trials in India. "5G is future, it is speed. We will encourage new innovation in 5G," he added. In October, Huawei said it has already used some 5G technologies in existing networks in India and was also eyeing local manufacturing due to the reduced corporate tax and incentives offered by the government.
Apart from Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, Samsung are operating in the 5G trials, as per reports. While Vodafone Idea has applied to partner with Ericsson and Huawei for the trials, Airtel has sought to partner with Nokia, Huawei and Ericsson and Reliance Jio has partnered with Samsung. The trials which have been long-delayed will be held in January 2020.
Global concerns on Huawei
Huawei has been grabbing the news since the US and Australia had banned them from providing equipment for their 5G network due to data privacy issues. The US has also been persuading its allies to block Huawei from their new mobile networks. Countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Taiwan have banned Huawei from their 5G networks, as per reports. Apart from India, France, the Netherlands, Russia, and South Korea have allowed Huawei to participate in 5G trials. The firm has assured India that it will comply with the telecom regulations.
Several governments believe that Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei who is former People's Liberation Army officer may use the network to collect surveillance on his customers, according to cybersecurity experts. Moreover, last year Huawei phones were banned by networks including Verizon and AT&T after security threats were flagged. The US believes that the Chinese authorities can use information from Huawei to facilitate espionage or cyber-attacks.
Updated 20:26 IST, December 31st 2019