The Indian government plans to bring in a new rule that will see all smartphones offer NavIC (Navigation with the Indian Constellation) support from 2025. In case you don’t know, NavIC is India’s home navigation system designed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) as an alternative to GPS ( global positioning system).
In a recent interview, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that all smartphones sold in India from 2025 will have to use NavIC chips or provide support for NavIC-enabled chips. He further stated that the requirement will come into force from January 1, 2025 for 5G smartphones and will become mandatory for all other phones operating in the L1 band from December 2025.
He mentioned that Apple adoption of NavIC was a significant achievement for India. apples The new iPhone 15 series comes with NavIC support As an alternative to GPS.
The idea and the goal today is that wherever we have the capability in India, we will definitely start pushing platforms to integrate these into their products. Wherever we have these capabilities, the goal is to incentivize companies to use them as well.
Chandrasekhar also noted that India does not plan to impose NavIC as the sole navigation system, but is asking car and smartphone companies to offer support for NavIC.
In today’s digital ecosystem, as much as governments will mandate the use of certain platforms or solutions or technology, you cannot mandate anything that is not competitive in cost or performance. If the iPhone as a global platform and as a global device recognizes that NavIC is a competitive GPS solution, that constitutes NavIC’s justification.
Since January, the Indian government has been in talks with manufacturers on how to integrate the NavIC system into their upcoming smartphones, as well as ensure they meet the 2025 deadline.
The NavIC satellite system currently covers the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, China and parts of Africa and Australia. It currently has five satellites in orbit with a goal of 24 satellites in the future offering global coverage. NavIC currently offers accurate tracking up to five meters under ideal conditions and up to 10 meters under non-ideal conditions.