As per recent reports, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has announced the arrival of 5G technology, even as the government allowed all applicants including the Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei Technologies to participate in 5G trials. Prasad said, “The age of 5G is coming… we have taken a decision to give 5G spectrum for trials to all the players.” This comes as a major development given the security concerns associated with the Chinese tech major and intense US pressure on India to bar the Chinese company in respect of 5G trials.
With this India’s policy on Huawei and roll out of the 5G technology has become clearer. According to Vimal Wakhlu, a former chairman of Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd., “Whether it is Huawei or Ericsson or any other company, India needs to build a system, which can detect any malware and not depend on the brand of a company or a country.” He added, “Any country is capable of snooping on us. The reason some people have been advocating a ban on Huawei is that if it is barred, the market for equipment becomes slightly less competitive and hence it can be sold at higher prices.”
India has allowed Huawei to participate in the 5G trials simply because no security threats have been witnessed thus far. Huawei on its part has also been trying hard to address India’s concerns that have been attributed to Huawei time and again. In June, the leading Chinese smartphone manufacturer had said that it was willing to sign a “no back-door” pact with the Government of India. “Back door” refers to a point of access into a network/ equipment, which guarantees entry into the network/ equipment in exceptional circumstances. The idea was obviously to assuage potential security concerns attributed to Huawei.
Huawei’s presence in the 5G trials is going to intensify and tighten competition as far as the 5G spectrum is concerned. The 5G spectrum auction which is already set to yield a massive worth for the Indian government. With the presence of Huawei and stricter competition, the government stands to benefit further and the auction of the premium airwaves is only going to improve the worth that the Indian government will leverage from the 5G spectrum auction. Huawei’s entry in the Indian market, if it is able to get through in the 5G spectrum auction will make the market more competitive, ultimately benefitting the customers.
India must also remain circumspect about the apprehensions attached with the Chinese tech major, Huawei Technologies. In fact, markets like like United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia have banned Huawei over security concerns. New Zealand and Canada are also likely to follow suit and ban the Chinese smartphone maker. India must ensure that there are no security risks involved not only with Huawei, but any tech company for that matter. The US had blacklisted Huawei over the charges of espionage and doing business with Iran. The National Security Advisory Board in India too has also flagged security concerns over Huawei’s 5G technology. India cannot afford to go by the reputation attached to a brand name, rather it should develop systems to ensure that none of such tech majors are able to pose a security threat for India.
India must also ensure that China reciprocates to India’s move of allowing Huawei to participate in 5G trials. India should use this as a bargaining chip to get Beijing into returning the favour. As Piyush Goyal, Union Commerce Minister, had said, “I had not heard that China ever opens up any of their government contracts… They are never opened up for international competition in the garb of being public procurement.”
Huawei and its ultimate patron, China are desperate after the leading smartphone maker got banned in several major markets. India being a market with 468 million users has tremendous potential for the 5G technology of Huawei, and the Chinese firm does not want to miss this opportunity. This also explains China’s softened stance toward India. India should try to make full use of this situation into leveraging the Dragon to open up its economy for India.
Reliance Jio has already started working with Huawei in the direction of developing 5G network solutions based on open standards and supporting interoperability. The simple fact that Huawei Technologies is a leader in 5G technology cannot be denied. In fact, the Chinese firm had replaced the American tech giant Apple as the second-largest Smartphone maker in the world last year.
The security concerns against Huawei are valid but also exacerbated. The United States might well be exaggerating security risks posed by Huawei out of sheer geopolitical vendetta against Beijing. However, being a sovereign nation, India must guard itself not only against the security threats posed by not only Huawei or other tech majors but also against the United States’ diktats. The Indian government is empowered and also capable of making an independent decision.
By allowing Huawei to participate in 5G trials, India is not going to favour the Chinese smartphone maker in any way. The decision has been taken in larger public interest to make the auction as well as the market more competitive. This is a liberal push with the clear goals of insulating the Indian market against security threats emanating from Huawei or any other such tech major, and also getting Beijing to open up its market for India.
It is also possible that India is playing around with a desperate China in order to fulfill its trading goals in bilateral ties with Beijing, given that the Sino-India trade deficit had climbed to US $ 57.86 billion against India last year. India has only given an opportunity to a desperate Huawei whose fortunes have crashed in the recent past owing to suspicions of security threats against it. India can ban Huawei at once, in case of a security violation or if China does not mend its ways with India. Allowing Huawei to participate in 5G trials thus has cleared the air around India’s policy on the Chinese tech major. The policy is forumalated entirely on the basis of better competition and exchange of 5G technology, thereby paving the way for higher growth of the Indian market. India has therefore taken the right decision at the right time.