DoT notifies additional telecom equipment for mandatory testing, certification

Applications for testing and certification of these telecom products will be accepted on MTCTE portal from June 25, 2020. "However, for sale, import or use of these telecom equipment in India, such certification shall become mandatory with effect from October 1, 2020," the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said in a circular dated June 23.

The Telecom Department has notified mandatory testing and certification for additional range of products, used in telecom and data networks, from October 1, 2020. Transmission Terminal Equipment (including multiplexing equipment), PON (passive optical network) family of broadband equipment, and feedback device are the products which have been notified under the second phase of Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE) regime.

"...it is, hereby, notified that testing and certification for following telecom equipment under Phase-II of Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunications Equipment (MTCTE) regime as provisioned in Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules 2017, shall be mandatory with effect from October 1, 2020," a recent DoT notification said. Applications for testing and certification of these telecom products will be accepted on MTCTE portal from June 25, 2020.

"However, for sale, import or use of these telecom equipment in India, such certification shall become mandatory with effect from October 1, 2020," the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said in a circular dated June 23. It said the schedule for mandatory testing and certification of remaining equipment will be notified subsequently.

In another circular dated June 24, the department's engineering wing also provided for certain relaxation for test results and reports on some norms other than safety requirements and EMI/EMC (electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility) requirements. When contacted, industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Director General Rajan Mathews told PTI, "We are...pleased that DoT has increasingly qualified labs to conduct the testing and is doing so in a phased manner".

This ensures there are no disruptions to the supply chain and equipment can be tested and implemented in the networks in a timely manner. "COAI is glad to work with the DoT and supports the equipment performance testing procedures put in place by the DoT in coordination with the industry," he added.

On the other circular, Mathews said that it relates to all other equipment that are presently imported/approved based on certification by international labs. "The second circular clarifies that such certification by international labs will continue to be valid to the new date indicated," Mathews said.

Lauding DoT's move, the Telecom Equipment Manufacturing Association (TEMA) in a statement noted that the three categories of the freshly-notified products would need to be tested within India by Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) recognised lab. "The applications would be received from June 25, 2020. It is also to be complimented that the EMC and safety tests would need to be conducted within country by approved labs, though for others, ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) approved tests would be accepted till September 30, 2020...," N K Goyal, Chairman Emeritus, TEMA said in the statement.

There are about 50 labs in India approved by TEC, TEMA pointed out. "TEMA has been demanding mandatory testing since 2010 and that the Government of India as far as back on November 30, 2012 recognised security threat from China telecom equipments and decided that from April 1, 2013 the certification shall be done by only recognized labs/agencies in India," TEMA added.

The association said it looks forward for implementation of next phase of mandatory testing, especially for radio and mobile equipment/products..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)