Vi Awards Order to ZTE Despite Lack of Trusted Sources Approval: Report

Vodafone Idea (Vi), an Indian telecom operator, has awarded a fresh optical transmission equipment network order worth around Rs 230 crore to Chinese company ZTE for Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh. The telco is upgrading its network, and for a fresh network deployment or upgrade and maintenance, telcos have to take approval from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and provide information regarding vendors and their technology. Notably, ZTE hasn’t been given the trusted sources approval by the NSCS, said an ET report.

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Finnish gear maker Nokia and US-based Ciena were also in contention to get the contract, but Vodafone Idea ultimately chose ZTE. It is worth noting that Vodafone Idea’s optical transmission network has deployments from both Huawei and ZTE across all telecom circles.

Airtel, another Indian telecom operator, had last year awarded a telecom infrastructure expansion contract worth Rs 150 crore to Huawei. Under the deal, Huawei upgraded and expanded Airtel’s National Long Distance (NLD) network. Airtel awarded a similar contract to Huawei worth Rs 300 crore in 2021. Both these contracts were given to Huawei despite the latter not having the trusted sources approval.

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Since the trusted sources regime came into effect, both Huawei and ZTE have largely engaged with Indian telecom operators Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel for servicing existing network maintenance contracts. They are only allowed to replace existing parts, with even network upgrades needing government clearances.