ZTE to discuss ‘security tests’ with home secretary

ZTE Corp, one of the two Chinese telecom equipment vendors whose equipment have been blocked by the home ministry, will meet the home secretary to seek details of the ‘security tests’ that its equipment have ‘failed’.

The company said there is no history of any of its equipment failing ‘security tests’ even in much more stringent markets.

“We have never been told to submit any of our equipment for tests. We do not know any details about the type of tests. We have only got to know from the media that some of our operators have been held back from deploying some of our equipment,” said D K Ghosh, chairman and managing director of ZTE India.

“We are a transparent organisation and we are eager to participate in any test. But we want to know the rules of the test,” chimed in Fan Qingfeng, executive vice-president of ZTE Corporation, specially flown in to handle the sensitive situation.

The Chinese twins, Huawei and ZTE nearly swept up the entire Indian market last year, leaving almost nothing to the traditional players, by snapping up all the contracts given out by nearly half-a-dozen new operators. With almost all of the new operators going the ‘Chinese way’, European vendors have been forced to depend on incumbent operators like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone-Essar, whose networks are managed by them.

According to Ghosh, around $200-300 million worth of equipment sales have been impacted by the blockade in the last 2-3 quarters.
ZTE, however, refused to comment on whether its corporate rivals have anything to do with the ruckus, calling such theories ‘speculation’.

Ghosh also dispelled notions of secrecy and spying going on from Chinese, inviting journalists to visit any part of the company’s offices, including the ladies’ quarters, after hours.

Media had reported that Huawei has ‘secret rooms’ in their headquarters which are banned to Indians, where the Chinese stay for extended periods. Huawei is planning to take media teams to its Bangalore offices where the alleged ‘spy ring’ is operating. It too has sought an appointment from the home secretary GK Pillai to learn details of the security tests and allay the government’s fears.

Industry veterans expect the noise to die down as it did in the case of the Blackberry episode. “It looks like every ministry wants to have a part of the telecom growth story,” said one cryptically.