ZTE contemplates local production to solve security issues

ZTE India, which is facing import delays on account of security issues, is contemplating manufacturing of networking products in India.

The company is looking at starting manufacturing at its unit in Maneswar, near Gurgaon, Delhi-NCR. ZTE did not disclose its investment plans. This is one of the solutions for us to offer to the government,?DK Ghosh, Chairman and Managing Director, ZTE India, said.

The ZTE India management will also be meeting home ministry secretary GK Pillai on Thursday to solve the current issues. The ZTE management is confident that the company can solve the hurdles to meet all regulatory norms. We work with 500 operators in the world. We never faced any issues in the past. We are an Indian company with head quarter in China. We will be looking at adding more Indians to the senior management. Currently, ZTE India employs over 90% local Indian staff,? he added.

ZTE has maintained a transparent approach to management since very beginning. ZTE fully understands and respects the security concern of India government and will unconditionally adhere to the policies and relative requirements of India government, according to Ghosh.

ZTE's products have been widely used by all the high-level operators in America, Europe and India as well and have consistently met all strict requirements of product quality and security. He sincerely hope the Indian Government will soon issue clear regulations for a security test. Once the regulations are put in place, ZTE will proactively work with the relevant authorities to follow all the procedures of the test, and we are confident of clearing all required parameters.

And in the interim period, we hope to receive the same equal treatment that other manufacturers can expect in India,? he added.

ZTE has also announced that its India subsidiary will expand its facility to include a new Indian Engineering Centre (IEC) office in Delhi to meet the increasing demand for engineering services in the Indian market. Recently, it set up its National Network Operation Center (NNOC) to showcase its long-term development and localization strategy.

In 2009, the company increased its Indian headcount by more than 1000 employees. In Delhi itself, almost 100 employees were recruited. To accommodate this rapid rise in the number of employees of IEC, ZTE India has invested in this new facility and will move all its employees to the new facility so that it can better respond to customers' needs.

The new IEC office will be the primary hub for ZTE India's after-sale engineering team, which includes managed-services, network establishment, and maintenance of the network for operators.

The expansion of the Bangalore Centre is also expected to be complete soon. It will provide training services to 2000 ZTE India local staff as well as 3000 local outsourcing partners. The move will facilitate a timely knowledge transfer of the latest telecom and engineering technology to the local telecom professionals in India.

Fan Qingfeng, EVP, ZTE Corporation, said: India is a strategic market, ZTE has provided more than 7000 job opportunities within the company and its partners. ZTE will continue to invest in technology and engineering to make sure we support the development of the telecom sector in every way possible, especially with 3G just around-the-corner.?/p>

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