DoT Exempts Feature Phones
from GPS Installation Diktat
The telecom department has
exempted feature phone makers from installing Global Positioning System (GPS)
which helps track the location of a device, saving buyers an almost 30%
increase in costs.
The Department of
Telecommunications, which said in April last year that all mobile phones must
have GPS capability, has now scaled down the mandate and made it applicable to
only smartphones, according to a notification dated November 23.
"With effect from 1st
January 2018, no smartphone handset manufacturing company shall sell new
smartphone mobile handset in India without the facility of identifying the
location through satellite-based GPS," DoT said. Handset makers welcomed
the move, saying it would protect the feature phone market from a price
increase.
"It's a big relief to
the industry," said Pankaj Mohindroo, president
of the Indian Cellular Association, which represents handset makers including
Apple, Samsung Electronics, Xiaomi and Micromax. The association had been lobbying with the
government to change its stance.
The government first
mandated the introduction of panic buttons on all phones from January 1, 2017,
and GPS location facilities from January 1, 2018, to allow women in distress to
easily alert their near and dear ones. The first mandate has been implemented
by all handset makers from March this year. Smartphones already have inbuilt
GPS capability.
Introducing the GPS
location service in feature phones would have pushed up their costs by as much
as Rs 400 and would have hurt sales of these devices,
which are mostly priced between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500, industry officials had said. If the additional
cost was passed on to buyers, the selling price would have increased by at
least 30%, the association added.