On April 27, India's DoT (Department of Telecom) officially announced that local telecom operators will be prohibited to import telecom equipment manufactured and supplied by Chinese companies, including Huawei and ZTE, the Hindu Business Line reported on April 29. Following several informal announcements, the DoT, for the first time, sent an official ban order to stop telecom operators buying telecom equipment from Chinese companies, claiming that telecom equipment from certain countries, including China, may have spyware or malware to endanger telecom networks in India, according to the same source.

This move will be a big blow for Huawei and ZTE, which have seen India as a potential strong revenue source, and Chinese telecom operators, which intend to purchase Chinese telecom equipment with cheaper price. Nevertheless, European and American telecom equipment suppliers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this ban order. Aside from the ban on import of Chinese telecom equipment, the Indian government earlier also banned the import of Chinese mobile phones without the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number.