The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to amend the conditions for a telecom licence to enforce local screening compliance on grounds of security issues. Accordingly, the operators will be allowed to use imported telecom equipment in their networks only after it has been certified by an Indian accredited test lab. The new regulation will be applicable to all wireline and wireless service providers, with effect from April 2015.

Earlier, the mandate for local screening was planned to be initiated in April 2013 but was later extended to July 2014. The government has now again postponed the mandate in the absence of local labs for certification to April 2015.

To facilitate establishment of such labs, the government has been considering allowing 74 per cent foreign ownership, which would need to be lowered to 49 per cent in three years.