Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio, and Bharti Airtel, all the three private telecom operators, are slightly worried about the reduced availability of 5G smartphones in the country. For the unaware, the Indian government has called for the need to test 5G mobile locally and certify them safe from January 1, 2023, before they are made available to the people of India. According to an ET Telecom report, the private telcos have told the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that such a move would result in a bad hit to data consumption and would ultimately deprive the Indian users of purchasing the latest 5G smartphones. Not just this, but such a move would also hinder India’s vision of becoming a global smartphone manufacturing hub.
TEC Wants 5G Smartphones to be Brought Under Mandatory Testing and Certification
In a recent internal meeting, the Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC) has called for a mandatory testing and certification of telecom equipment (MTCTE) regime, which will come into effect from January 1, 2023. The body had earlier asked for all the smartwatches, smart cameras, and wearables to be tested and certified before being sold to Indian consumers. Global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as well as telecom operators, have asked the DoT to not go ahead with such a move for 5G smartphones. 5G smartphone availability in the market would go down sharply as it would take a lot of time to locally test and certify new 5G smartphones that are being launched in India. The telcos and the OEMs have urged the DoT and TEC to not interfere with the manufacturing of smartphones. Such a rule would add to the cost burden of OEMs for launching the product and also result in a significant delay for the mobile companies to launch new 5G smartphones in the country. The Indian government has become wary of tech devices with support for network connectivity. This decision from TEC comes to keep Indians secure, but the cost might not be worth it.
