Russia plans to implement stricter checks on telecom equipment to determine whether its software is truly developed domestically or if imported software with minimal modifications is being passed off as a proprietary product. It is believed that if communication network equipment contains foreign code that the manufacturer does not genuinely own, this could pose problems for security, support, and the future development of such systems.

ANO "Consortium "Telecommunication Equipment" has sent a draft methodology for software verification for telecom equipment to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and FGBU "VNIIR". Currently, according to the telecom equipment manufacturer, there is no single official regulation: it is clear that software needs to be checked, but it is not specified how exactly to do it, what to look for, and what tasks to assign to manufacturers.

The document was prepared together with companies that develop software for telecom equipment themselves, including "Irteya", Yadro, "Softime", "T8", and others. The letter was sent in March 2026.

The new methodology is intended to make the examination clearer and consistent for everyone. It proposes checking whether the vendor has rights to the software and source codes, whether the software is included in the Ministry of Digital Development's register of domestic software, and whether the Russian developer itself can refine and modernize the program.

It is proposed to test manufacturers in practice. The company must demonstrate that it genuinely manages its software, based on real actions with the equipment. Specific tasks are to be defined for each type of equipment. For example, if it is a base station, the manufacturer must show that it can change traffic transmission settings, control the device, safely restart it, configure the radio module, work with ports, interfaces, and connected subscriber devices.

The market suspects that the problem may be widespread. Valery Aidagulov, Deputy Technical Director of "Eltex", told CNews that the standard check currently includes source code, developer staff, software creation history, testing on a specific product, and the possibility of modernization. According to his assessment, up to half of telecom equipment manufacturers may turn out to be unscrupulous. He explains this by the fact that the development of telecom equipment requires time, experience, and understanding of complex protocols, and many companies have appeared on the market "out of nowhere" and immediately declared such competencies. According to Aidagulov, this may mean that the software was simply purchased.