The government has asked smartphone makers including Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and others to soon make their phones compatible with its in-house developed NavIC navigation system.
Smartphone makers including Samsung, Xiaomi and Apple fear high costs and disruption as the move requires hardware changes, according to a Reuters report.
The Indian government wants to reduce reliance on foreign systems, including the widely used US Global Positioning System (GPS), and says NavIC provides more accurate inland navigation and its use would benefit the economy.
China, the European Union, Japan and Russia have their own global or regional navigation systems to rival GPS.
Operational since 2018, adoption of NavIC is minimal; it is mandatory in public vehicle location trackers, for example.
The government wants to push the smartphone giants to make hardware changes to support NavIC, in addition to GPS, in the new phones they will sell from January 2023.
According to the report, representatives from Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung and others raised concerns that making phones NavIC-compatible would require further research and increase production costs. The changes would also require more testing permissions, which, along with a January 1 deadline, would disrupt businesses and planned launches.
Smartphone gamers have asked for time until 2025 to implement the changes, and a final decision is expected in the coming days, according to the report cited by a senior government official.
The government has asked smartphone makers including Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi and others to soon make their phones compatible with its in-house developed NavIC navigation system.
Smartphone makers including Samsung, Xiaomi and Apple fear high costs and disruption as the move requires hardware changes, according to a Reuters report.
The Indian government wants to reduce reliance on foreign systems, including the widely used US Global Positioning System (GPS), and says NavIC provides more accurate inland navigation and its use would benefit the economy.
China, the European Union, Japan and Russia have their own global or regional navigation systems to rival GPS.
Operational since 2018, adoption of NavIC is minimal; it is mandatory in public vehicle location trackers, for example.
The government wants to push the smartphone giants to make hardware changes to support NavIC, in addition to GPS, in the new phones they will sell from January 2023.
According to the report, representatives from Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung and others raised concerns that making phones NavIC-compatible would require further research and increase production costs. The changes would also require more testing permissions, which, along with a January 1 deadline, would disrupt businesses and planned launches.
Smartphone gamers have asked for time until 2025 to implement the changes, and a final decision is expected in the coming days, according to the report cited by a senior government official.