China's Huawei working to allay Indian security fears

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies said on Wednesday it was ensuring its networks were secure, as India reiterated it has not banned Chinese-made telecoms gear though added there were restrictions due to security reasons."We have not imposed any ban. There are only restrictions due to security reasons. Once that is verified, then import can be done," junior telecoms minister Sachin Pilot told Reuters. Separately, Huawei said it would continue to communicate to the Indian government the "strong measures Huawei has put in place to ensure the deployment of high quality and secure networks."The statement marked the first official word from Huawei, China's top telecoms equipment maker, from its headquarters in the city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong since media reports first appeared that India had banned Chinese gear.On Tuesday, a source with direct knowledge of the development had told Reuters that Huawei was seeking meetings with Indian government officials to allay their security concerns over equipment from China.Huawei wanted to meet representatives from home ministry and the prime minister's office, the source had said.                                            The Business Standard newspaper, citing a person close to the development, said Huawei plans to set up a $300-$500 million manufacturing facility near Chennai in South India to overcome India's security fears.ZTE, China's second-biggest telecoms-gear maker and the other company to be affected by any adverse Indian decision, to date has not confirmed any formal or informal bans on the export of its equipment to India.Separately, Norway's Telenor, one of the newest entrants in the Indian mobile sector, said rules demanding all purchasing orders for telecom infrastructure equipment must be pre-approved by authorities had resulted in a delay in the second launch phase, planned for the second quarter 2010.