On 1 January 2025, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) through the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) issued notification no. 5-5/2024-TC/TEC for requirement documents of PON (Passive Optical Network) Family of Broadband Equipment under MTCTE (Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecom Equipment) certification scheme. The exemption on the testing parameters for PON Broadband Equipment Family has ben extended on mid 2025, initially until 30 June 2025 to be 31 December 2025. The validity period of the exemption has come to the end in 2026 and there is still no further notification from the authority. Therefore, it is likely that starting from 2026 manufacturers will be required to conduct testing parameters for PON family equipment to pass TEC MTCTE certification in India.
In this article, we will discuss all important notes from the current update of notification no. 5-5/2024-TC/TEC and its impact on the type approval process in India.
Key notes of notification no. 5-5/2024-TC/TEC
The notification no. 5-5/2024-TC/TEC describes the acceptance period of exemption and/or self-declaration of conformity against the testing parameters or Equipment Requirements (ER) of PON Family of Broadband Equipment under MTCTE. The following table shows the details information of exemption and/or self-declaration of conformity against ER under the notification no. 5-5/2024-TC/TEC:
| ER Parameter | Standard Name | Remark |
| Protocol Test for any PON interface | As per standards mentioned in ER | Exempted from submission of test reports until 30-06-2025 |
| Automatic Laser Shut-Down (ALS) or Automatic Power Shut-Down (APSD) | ITU-T G.664. IEC 60825. Annex-A1 | Self-Declaration of Conformity by Applicant/OEM is acceptable until 30-06-2025 |
| Interoperability Test for GPON | ITU-T G.984.x G.988 and BFF-TR-255 Annex-J5 | Applicant may upload test report/result for all sub-parameters of GPON interoperability test as per Annexure-J5/Appendix-III of ‘Annexure to ER’ with testing done in any National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited lab or OEM’s in-house lab. This relaxation is valid till 30-06-2025 |
Based on another notification was published on 26 June 2025, the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) issued another announcement to notify applicants and OEMs for extension period of the implementation notification no. 5-5/2024-TC/TEC until 31 December 2025. The exemption of parameters ER for PON Family of Broadband Equipment has expired since early 2026, and there is still no notification from TEC DoT to extend the exemption period.
Impact on type approval in India
Since there is still no new notification from TEC regarding the exemption of parameters ER for the PON Broadband Equipment Family until early January 2026, it is very likely that the implementation of parameters ER for the PON Broadband Equipment Family will be carried out in 2026. Therefore, the following ER parameters will be required when processing TEC MTECE certification for PON family equipment:
- Protocol testing for any PON interface
- Testing for Automatic Laser Shut-Down (ALS) or Automatic Power Shut-Down (APSD)
- Interoperability testing for GPON
Conclusion
It is important for manufacturers and suppliers to keep updated with all new requirement of TEC MTECE certification in India, including this update for parameters Equipment Requirements (ER) for PON Family of Broadband Equipment.
The implementation of notification no. 5-5/2024-TC/TEC will affect the type approval process for PON family equipment in India. Therefore, Dimulti will closely monitor the update for the requirements of type approval process of PON family equipment. You can drop an email to info@narmadi.com if further assistance is required regarding type approval process in India.
