Telecom gear & mobile phone test deadline extended to Aug 1

New Delhi: The government has once again extended the deadline for mandatory testing and certification of mobile phones and telecom equipment to August 1, 2019. Department of Telecom (DoT) had in 2012 for the first time fixed April 1, 2013 as the deadline for mandatory testing and certification of telecom equipment (MCTE), and has deferred it many times since then. "It has now been decided that certification of all telecom equipment under MCTE shall be mandatory with effect from August 1, 2019," Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), technical arm of DoT, said in a notice dated March 12. According to a previous order in September 2018, TEC said some of the equipment like wi-fi access points, satellite equipment, telephone instruments, etc, can be sold only after testing and obtaining certificate from authorised agencies from January 1, 2019.