Indian telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in Parliament that Indian companies that will supply United States (US)-origin technology components to China-based Huawei may face penal action under American regulations.
“Indian companies which will act as a supplier of US-origin equipment, software, technology to Huawei and its affiliates in entity list could be subject to penal action/sanction under US regulations,” Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
He said that as per the information available till now, the Department of Commerce, USA, has added Huawei Technologies to the entity list on May 16, 2019, by amending the US Export Administration Regulations.
“Huawei’s inclusion in the entity list implies that US companies require prior export licence for sale of any equipment/software/technology to Huawei,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The US government has directed its companies, including Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Intel, among others, not to supply software and hardware to Huawei, alleging security risk from the company.
Meanwhile, United States president Donald Trump recently indicated that the federal government would relax conditions on Huawei. But his statement is yet to become a part of the regulation.
Vodafone Idea trials
Huawei Technologies has teamed up with Vodafone Idea, India’s number one telecom operator, to conduct 5G trials in India.
“So far six proposals have been received which include proposals from China’s ZTE and Huawei. Any field trial in respect of 5G is to be carried out only through licensed Telecom Service Providers in a restrictive, limited geographical area and for specific use case,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Incidentally, India is yet to ban Huawei from supplying 5G equipment to telecom operators in the country in the wake of security concerns raised by several Western nations under the influence of the United States.
Ravi Shankar Prasad said a committee under Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) has been constituted to give recommendations on various issues, including security, relating to 5G and technology trials in India.
