The DoT has directed to give preference to locally produced cybersecurity products in public procurement. “Preference has to be given to ‘Make in India’ cyber security products in public procurement by central ministries/departments, public sector undertakings (PSUs) and government organisations,” the DoT said in a circular issued. The development came after the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology said that it was awash with complaints from droves of indigenous cyber product companies about the challenges, they were facing in participating in public procurement of such products.

DoT is likely to issue guidelines on implementation of production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for manufacturers in the sector and start inviting applications for the same. Telecom gear makers firms such as Ericsson and Nokia are keen to expand their operations in India, and global companies like Samsung, Cisco, Ciena and Foxconn have "shown interest" to set up manufacturing bases in the country for telecom and networking products for domestic and export markets. "Telecom PLI has already been approved by the government. The DoT is ready with guidelines to implement it, application format, incentive allocation, etc.

The government eased the path for 5G rollout in the country by reducing to six months the notice period for offering any new technology using the spectrum being put up for auction in March. Earlier, the Telecom department DoT has asked telecom operators to give one year notice before starting any technology using spectrum across the seven frequency bands that will be offered in auction on March 1. "In case of switching over to different technology while rolling out the networks for compliance of roll out obligations, information regarding the new technology should be given at least six months before any new technology base station is offered for testing," the amendment in the spectrum auction clause released by the DoT said.