Smartphone companies may not launch 4G phones above Rs 10,000

5G phones may become more affordable in the coming months. According to a report in news agency ANI, smartphone companies have assured government officials that they would gradually discontinue the production of 4G phones priced Rs 10,000 and above and shift to 5G technology.
The same was discussed during the meeting held earlier this week between top officials of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Top officials of both the ministries met with the representative of mobile operators and smartphone makers of the country. The meeting’s primary agenda was to understand the delay in the rollout of 5G services after its official launch earlier this month. The government has reportedly directed telcos to tune in their 5G services with 5G smartphones within a three months time frame.

The agenda of the meeting included a discussion around enabling the handsets to be ready for 5G services. The intervention of the handsets manufacturers and telecom service providers to release software FOTA (Firmware-Over-the-Air) upgrades for all 5G handsets was also discussed in the meeting. Sources said that smartphone manufacturers have been firmly told to prioritise the rollout of software patches, although no deadline has been given to them.
Another meeting of operators and smartphone companies along with their respective associations is likely to be held in two weeks, sources added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 1 launched 5G services amid much fanfare, with leading telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio outlining plans for rollout of the services in a select few cities.
Bharti Airtel has started rolling out 5G in eight cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi while Jio has started beta trials in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi.