Verizon Gets Indian Clearance for Communications Gateways

Verizon Business said Friday it has received security approval from the Indian government to set up its own communications gateways in the country.

The company can now connect traffic into and from India directly to its own global network, using its submarine cable capacity to India. Before the security clearance, the company had to route traffic through a local communications service provider.

Cable & Wireless said in January that it too had received the security clearance, and had set up two international gateways in Mumbai and another two in Chennai that have received Lawful Interception and Monitoring Solution (LIMS) clearances from the Indian government.

Indian law requires telecommunications service vendors to provide for interception and monitoring of communications by law enforcement agencies under certain conditions.

By operating its own gateways in India, Verizon Business said it will be better able to monitor end-to-end network performance and product delivery, as it will retain full control of its international network capacity into and out of India and of its global Private IP (Internet Protocol) and Private Line services.

Verizon received licenses in January last year from the Indian government to operate international and national long-distance communications services in the country.