Indian Government wants all smartphones to come with NavIC support by January 2023: Heres how brands have reacted

The government of India has reportedly sought brands to adopt NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) as quickly as possible. NavIC for the unversed is an indigenous alternative to navigation satellite systems like GPS and GLONASS. While it’s been around for a couple of years, India is really pushing the smartphone brands in the market to incorporate it before January 23, 2022. This report by Reuters brings this scoop to us and also shares how the stakeholders are reacting to this sudden decision.

NavIC in phones: GOI’s take

In its mission of making Indian self-reliant, the government wants to standardize NavIC in place of the US’s GPS and Russia’s GLONASS. 

Its claim is the NavIC is “as good as GPS of the United States in terms of position accuracy and availability in its service region.“

NavIC, which is the operational name for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) and is designed to cover 1500 kms around India, more accurately. Although Civilians can use it, a part of it will be solely used by the defense. It employs 8 satellites for this purpose including IRNSS-1A, IRNSS-1B, IRNSS-1C, IRNSS-1D, IRNSS-1E, IRNSS-1F, IRNSS-1G, and IRNSS-1I.

As per Counterpoint Research, about 300 smartphones already ship with support for NAVIC. The government wants more to join this club soon.

NavIC in phones: Smartphone brand’s reaction 

Two of the concerns that brands have are cost and clearance. 

Samsung India’s Binu George addresses the first concern by saying, “This would add to cost as it requires hardware design changes and additional investments to support devices specific to India. Further, the companies have already prepared for models to be launched in 2024.“

This is particularly relevant to the affordable phone market.

The other concern is that NAVIC implementation would require more testing clearances, that too before the January 1 deadline. This could get in the way of their release schedules. 

However, Meity has cleared the air by saying that the deadline isn’t set in stone. 

A media report has claimed citing a meeting that mobile cos were asked to make smartphones compatible with NavIC within months. This is to clarify: (1) No timeline has been fixed. (2) The cited meeting was consultative; and (3) the issue is under discussion with all stakeholders.

— Ministry of Electronics & IT (@GoI_MeitY) September 26, 2022

We will keep our eyes on this topic and bring to you developments as and when they happen.

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