The government has decided to get security check done on all telecom equipment in a specialised laboratory before they can be imported by telecom service providers in the country.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting attended by Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai and Telecom Secretary P J Thomas yesterday, official sources said here on Tuesday, adding that it was done to address security concerns associated with "suspect vendors".

The government decided that once a particular equipment intended to be brought by a particular telecom operator is given security clearance, the same equipment could be installed by any other operator even if it does not get the clearance from the Home Ministry within 30 days.

The specialised lab for the purpose will be called the Telecom Testing and Security Certification Centre.