ASSOCHAM requests dropping of mandatory telecom equipment testing proposal

The ASSOCHAM has requested the Department of Telecommunication to drop the proposal of mandatory testing of telecom equipment. The telecom sector is battling several challenges due to its highly indebted situation and seeks dropping of the proposal.

In a letter to the Telecommunication Secretary and Chairperson of the Telecom Commission, Ms Aruna Sundarajan, the ASSOCHAM has said that the move to get the draft guidelines by the Telecom Engineering Centre for mandatory testing of the end-to-end equipment would add one more layer of regulation and go against the spirit of “ease-of-doing business”. It said, in any case, the telecom industry is “already heavily debt ridden” and any more regulatory compliance burden would create serious issues in the global supply chain cycle. “Declining revenues, mounting debt, hyper-competitive marketplace have posed tremendous pressure on network investments, expansions.”

The ASSOCHAM letter signed by its Secretary General D S Rawat said, “Products (end-to-end equipment) are developed keeping in view the relevant legal and regulatory requirements in global markets including India and equipment makers proactively ensure stringent technical and environmental standards. The telecom products that are envisaged in mandatory testing by TEC are developed based on various international standards and do undergo rigorous testing and certification regime at international labs for Environment, Health, Safety.”

He added, “Most of the critical telecom infrastructure supplied to operators and other intermediaries in the entire voice and data chain are being manufactured in India itself, in the spirit of the Make-in-India programme.”

ASSOCHAM has cautioned that this mandatory testing would not only be counterproductive to the industry which is already heavily debt ridden and would also create serious issues in the global supply chain cycle. Declining revenues, mounting debt, hyper-competitive marketplace have posed tremendous pressure on network investments, expansions. The financial pressure is leading to further debt and the industry is already going through a rough patch leading to consolidations at both operators as well as the global OEMs.

The ASSOCHAM, thus, sought doing away with the proposal. “Instead of adding one more layer of testing, when in doubt, TEC may recognize and review from time to time the test reports and certificates issued by conformity assessment bodies that are internationally reputed to assess whether products conform to the standards and safety requirements, as is happening now.”

Tags: ASSOCHAM, telecom equipment testing proposal, Aruna Sundarajan telecom secretary, Telecom Engineering Centre, Make-in-India, make in india