Smartphone companies in India to stop manufacturing 4G-only phones over Rs 10,000, move to 5G completely

Smartphone manufacturers operating in India have assured the Government of India that they will start phasing out the production of 4G-only smartphones that cost over Rs 10,000, completely stop manufacturing them soon, and focus completely on 5G capable devices.   [caption id=“attachment_11447381” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] The Indian government has asked mobile manufacturers to discontinue all 4G-only phones over Rs 10,000, and focus only on 5G-capable devices.[/caption] Indian telcos have started rolling out 5G services across the country and need to have a massive user base if they want to ensure that the penetration of 5G connectivity in India takes place at as rapid a pace as 4G connectivity had seen. As a result, the government of India has asked executives of smartphone manufacturers in India to shift their priorities in the midrange to premium smartphone market and only release devices that are capable of supporting the 5G network. Reportedly, smartphone manufacturing companies have been given a time frame of three months to shift to 5G networks completely. According to an ANI report, representatives of smartphone companies and telecom operators met top officials of the Department of Telecom and the Ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) to discuss the roadmap for 5G rollout. The report states that there are nearly 750 million mobile phone subscribers in India, out of which 100 million users own 5G-ready phones and over 350 million users own 3G or 4G phones. In an hour-long meeting, the government reportedly ordered smartphone companies to eventually discontinue producing 3G-4G compatible phones that are priced over Rs 10,000 and gradually switch to 5G technology. In the same meeting, the government took cognizance of the fact that several smartphone manufacturers had been selling devices capable of 5G connectivity, but users of those devices couldn’t connect to 5G networks, mainly because the devices had not been updated. The government has asked manufacturers to get ready with the necessary updates that would enable 5G-capable devices to connect to the high-speed network, as soon as possible. It is being said that it was this meeting that prompted Samsung and Apple to make a public statement that they will be rolling out the required updates for all of their 5G capable devices, by mid-November and December, respectively.