Ahead of the spectrum auction, the Department of Telecommunication has amended the Unified Access Services Licence for the procurement of telecommunication equipment, which would further affect Chinese equipment makers such as Huawei and ZTE.

“The licensee shall only connect trusted products in its network, and also seek permission from designated authority for upgradation or expansion of existing network utilising the telecommunication equipment not designated as trusted products,” the telecom department said in its latest amendment.

The word ‘‘expansion’’ has been added to the license conditions, published on the DoTwebsite on Monday.

Analysts said the amendment is aimed to plug the loophole in the procurement rules and completely stop Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from providing telecom gear to Indian telcos not just for upgradation but also for expansion purposes.

They added that some telcos were awarding contracts to the two Chinese vendors, under the guise of ‘‘expansion’’ of the network.

The government on June 15, 2021, had amended the Unified Access Service License to prevent telcos from obtaining gear from untrustworthy vendors.

Companies needed to get the trusted sources tag. Their equipment should be deemed trusted products under India’snew security directive.

The latest changes will not affect the ongoing annual maintenance contracts or updates to equipment already inducted into the telecom network.