Govt Extends Deadline For Mandatory Certification Of 4G Products By One Year To Provide Relief To Telecom Gear Makers

The government has extended the deadline for mandatory certification of 4G products by one year after receiving requests from the stakeholders including telecom gear makers and telcos, the Parliament was told on Wednesday (3 August).

"Based on stakeholders’ requests, the date of mandatory certification of 4G products covered under phase-III and phase-IV of Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment (MTCTE) has been extended from 1 July 2022 to 1 July 2023," Union Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

The minister further informed that the 5G products have not been notified under MTCTE till date.

He said that presently, many Indian labs are equipped for Safety and Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)/ Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing which are tested for all products.

However, sufficient labs are not available for testing of technical and other parameters of 4G products.

The minister said that for augmentation of third party testing labs, Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) designated labs have been requested to augment their testing infrastructure for testing of 4G and 5G products.

Further, TEC has approached Invest India for attracting investment in test labs in a bid to increase the number of such facilities.