On March 5, 2025, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) of India issued an announcement numbered 6-35/2024-CA/TEC. The announcement proposes that in order to support start-ups and micro- and micro-sized enterprises, the Ministry of Telecommunications has decided to subsidize the cost of testing for start-ups and micro- and micro-sized enterprises under the mandatory/voluntary testing and certification scheme, which will be implemented by TEC.

Subsidies may be provided for tests carried out at TEC or National Communications Security Centre (NCCS) designated/accredited laboratories, NABL accredited laboratories if there is no TEC designated CAB in India for a particular type of testing. 75% of the fee is subsidized for start-ups, 60% for micro-enterprises, and 50% for small businesses. The total cost is 250 million rupees (about 21.23 million CNY), and the subsidy will be implemented for two years.

Click this link to view the original announcement.

On February 25, 2025, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre of India (TEC) issued an announcement numbered No. 5-2/2024-TC/TEC (Pt.1) announcing the list of Phase VI products of MTCTE (Mandatory Testing and Certification Procedure). The mandatory certification date will take effect on August 24, 2025. A total of 14 categories of products are included in MTCTE supervision, including cellular network CPE, fixed wireless telephones, etc.

Click this link to view the original TEC announcement.

On January 29, 2025, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) of India published an addendum numbered No. 5-5/2024-TC/TEC, announcing that the NB-IoT interface test parameter exemption has been extended until June 30, 2025 or further notice.

Click this link to view the original TEC Addendum.

On January 1, 2025, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) of India issued a notice to accept RF test reports issued by ILAC accredited laboratories from non-border sharing countries for some product technical parameters under the MTCTE framework, which is valid until June 30, 2025. Only test reports within two years of the date of issue will be accepted.

Related products include:

• MTCTE Phase III: Base station up to 4G;
• MTCTE Phase IV: SIM & VHF UHF Wireless System;
• MTCTE Phase V: 5G Bbase sation and E-Band Fixed Wireless Relay System (Note: E-band is the 71-86GHz band).

Click this link to view the original notice issued by TEC.

On October 29, 2024, the Indian Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC) published an addendum on the standards for the certification of telecommunication equipment with special test requirements under the MTCTE. The appendix includes satellite communications equipment that, as long as it meets the operational standards mentioned in the Notice, has the same certification requirements as the Notification No. 6-6/2021-TC/TEC (Pt. II), i.e., alternatives to discontinued products are exempt from MTCTE.

Click on the link to view the original addendum.

On September 19, 2024, the Telecommunications Engineering Centre of India (TEC) issued a notice announcing the amendment to Article 5.4 of the Test and Certification Procedures v3.0 of MTCTE (TEC 93009:2024). The updated terms indicate that a combination of individual devices manufactured to form a system will not be certified under MTCTE, but rather that each individual device should be certified individually.

Click this link to view the original TEC notice.

On July 1, 2024, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) of India issued a notice extending the mandatory certification date for 5 categories of products (ERs) below MTCTE Phase III, Phase IV and Phase V to October 1, 2024: Smart Meters (Phase III), Satellite Communication Equipment (Phase IV), 5G Cellular Base Stations (Phase V), Hipervisor (Phase V), IP Terminals (Phase V). In addition, the final acceptance date of test reports issued by signatories to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) for non-land-bordering countries will be extended to September 30, 2024 for 5 types of products: 4G and below base stations, 5G base stations, SIM, VHF/UHF wireless equipment and E-band fixed wireless relay systems.

Click this link to view the original announcement.

The Telecommunications Engineering Centre of India (TEC) published the TEC 93009:2024 Mandatory Test and Certification Procedure for Telecommunications Equipment (MTCTE) Version 3.0 on 3 April 2024. This new release includes the following major updates:

• The validity of regular MTCTE certificates has been extended from 5 to 10 years;
• Revised MTCTE TEC labeling requirements;
• For government agencies, the certification fee is waived, and the test report evaluation fee is cancelled;
• Updated definitions for fiber optic cable series and related models;
• Update the report upload requirements in the SCS scheme;
• Safety requirements under MTCTE may be accepted with a valid certificate issued by BIS or a test report from a BIS accredited laboratory;
• MTCTE can accept Certificate of Approval of Source (SAC);
• Clarified the definition of end-of-life/end-of-sale of a replacement product under the complete warranty;
• CAB test reports specifying the General Requirements (GR)/Interface Requirements (IR) for ER parameters under MTCTE will be accepted
• The relevant requirements of ITSAR were announced.

Click this link to view the original article of TEC 93009:2024.

On 4 April 2024, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) launched a public consultation on the auction of spectrum in the bands 37-37.5 GHz, 37.5-40 GHz and 42.5-43.5 GHz identified by International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT).

Click on this link to view the original consultation. The public consultation is open for comments until 2 May 2024.

On March 28, 2024, the Indian Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC) issued a notice numbered 1-6/2022-TC/TEC extending the mandatory security testing period for Wi-Fi CPE and IP routers under the MTCTE certification scheme from April 1, 2024 to July 1, 2024.

Click this link to view the original TEC notice.