India has hardened its stance of including the companies in its 5G trials after the recent Galwan Valley tension

India has planned to keep China’s Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. out of its 5G networks amid rising border tension between the countries said a report by The Economic Times.

The Ministry of Communications will restart discussions on approvals for 5G trials by private companies including Bharti Airtel Ltd., Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., and Vodafone Idea Ltd. delayed due to the lockdown, the report quoted Bloomberg as saying.

The U.S Federal Communications Commission has officially declared Huawei and ZTE national security threats.

The Economic Times quoted the officials as saying that the decision to ban the two companies is expected to come from the Prime Minister’s office in a week or two.

Huawei participated in India’s 5G trials earlier this year, however, after China’s actions along the disputed border in early May, India hardened its stance.

The report said that emails seeking comments from Huawei and ZTE remained unanswered.

Telecom companies were expected to invest $4 billion in setting up 5G infrastructure. However, it seems difficult now as companies including Bharti, Vodafone Group Plc, and even state-run firms are struggling to make existing 4G networks profitable, said the report.

The report quoted the head of research at SBICAP Securities Ltd. Rajiv Sharma, saying that shutting doors to Huawei and ZTE could lead to an increase in the cost of a switch to 5G by as much as 35 percent.

Now, hopes are on Mukesh Ambani’s recent announcement of rolling out a 5G network for his Jio Infocomm that could give stiff competition to Huawei in the world’s second-biggest wireless market, said the report.

Read the full report in The Economic Times