New Delhi: The Center will pressure Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone vendors to prioritise releasing software updates that support 5G in the nation, amid worries that many of their models are not prepared for the recently introduced high-speed service.
On October 1, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially launched 5G services amid great fanfare. Leading telecom provider Reliance Jio announced that it would make the service available in four cities and rival Bharti Airtel in eight. The service will be expanded next year, according to both businesses.
According to three industry sources and Airtel's website, the software for Apple's iPhone models—including the most recent iPhone 14—and many of Samsung's top smartphones is not compatible with 5G in India.
Top bureaucrats from India's telecoms and IT departments are worried about this and will conduct a meeting for early 5G adoption on Wednesday. According to a government document seen by Reuters, they have invited smartphone executives from international companies Apple, Samsung, Vivo, and Xiaomi, as well as domestic telecom operators Reliance, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, to attend.
The announcement for the closed-door meeting indicated that the agenda included holding discussions "to prioritise" and releasing software upgrades for supporting the high-speed network.
Requests for comment from Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics, Vivo, Xiaomi Corp., and the three domestic telecom operators did not immediately elicit a response. Both the telecom and IT departments of the government remained silent, Reuters reported.
According to India, the introduction of 5G in the second-largest mobile market in the world (after China) will provide users with high-speed internet, as well as coupled socio economic advantages in industries like agriculture and health.
Jio, the largest mobile network in India with more than 420 million subscribers, purchased airwaves worth $11 billion in August during a $19 billion 5G spectrum auction. While Vodafone distributed over $2 billion, Airtel spent over $5 billion.
One of the people in the sector stated that although there have been negotiations between telecom providers and smartphone makers, it is taking time to resolve compatibility problems between the unique 5G technology used by Indian telecom companies and phone software.
On Tuesday, the 5G compatible part of Airtel's website stated for all 12 to 14 models of Apple iPhones that "Apple is yet to update software." According to Airtel, many Samsung devices were also not ready, although more than 30 Xiaomi and Vivo models from China were listed as being compatible with the company's 5G service.
"Apple has been taking a lot of time. Airtel has been concerned about this as many of their premium clients are on Apple devices," said a second industry source with firsthand knowledge of the circumstances, and added that Apple and Airtel have been in communication.
According to a third source with firsthand knowledge of the situation, Apple is currently evaluating several 5G offerings from Indian network operators