In a bid to push Make in India products and equipment, the government might force the telecom players in India to purchase local equipment. Right now, none of the private telecom players is purchasing core equipment or radios from the local players for rolling out 5G or has purchased it for any of the legacy networks. This is also due to the non-existing local market for such equipment. But the govt is trying to change that as fast as possible. TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) and the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) are already helping BSNL in rolling out 4G using homegrown technology. The government is planning to push the telecom players in India, including Jio, Airtel and Vi, to purchase some of their equipment locally. If the telcos are not doing so voluntarily, then the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will make it mandatory for them to get some of their equipment from the local players.
It Might Become Mandatory for Telcos to Purchase Indigenous Equipment
A senior DoT official told Business Standard that DoT might make it mandatory for the private telcos to purchase some of their telecom equipment from indigenous manufacturers in case they are not doing so voluntarily. Whether this is something that the telcos would be comfortable with remains to be seen. The government wants the local manufacturing and tech ecosystem in India to be uplifted. But that will not happen until the time the local companies start making money and see some progress. If the telcos keep purchasing equipment and technology solely from foreign MNCs and vendors, then the Indian govt will find it hard to push for its Make in India vision. According to the report, the telcos will have to buy at least some of their telecom equipment from local manufacturers. This means that they can still continue to purchase a major chunk of their equipment from foreign vendors who have proven technologies and are cost-efficient options as well.
