Telecom vendor ZTE today said disallowing Chinese firms in Indian projects would mean no competition and hence high capital and operational cost for operators.
"If Chinese telecom equipment companies are not allowed to operate in India, the cost of such a scenario will be borne by the consumers, as the lack of healthy competition in the telecom sector will lead to extra costs of 3G services and hence result in high capex and opex of network deployment for the telecom operator," said ZTE India Chairman and Managing Director D K Ghosh at the India-China Business Forum in Shanghai.
ZTE and another Chinese telecom equipment firm, Huawei, are finding it hard to assuage the security concerns of the Home Ministry even though the telecom department as well as service providers are pressing the MHA not to keep out Chinese telcos.
Ghosh said ZTE partnered Indian telecom companies by providing technology and engineering services through its India R&D centre, NOC (Network Operator Centre), Manufacturing centre in Gurgaon and through its regional offices across the country.
On the ongoing security issues over the Chinese telecom companies, Ghosh said, "We fully comprehend and respect the security concerns of the Indian government and strictly adhere to the policies and laws of the country. While discussions and communication with the government is still on, we are sure that we will be getting a positive response from the government."
