Earlier this month, Narendra Modi officially introduced 5G in India, following which, Jio and Airtel started their initial rollout. While a lot of phones are 5G ready, iPhones and even some high-end Samsung phones are still not supporting 5G. To fasten this process, the Indian Government is pushing these OEMs to quickly roll out updates for this. Have a look at the details.
Indian Government Wants to Fasten 5G Rollout
A recent report by Reuters reveals that India’s IT and telecom departments are set to have a closed-door meeting with Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone makers, along with telecom operators like Jio, Airtel, and Vi. The aim is to understand the reason behind the delay and persuade the brands to “prioritize” software updates to enable support for 5G.
Currently, even the latest iPhone 14 series don’t support 5G. As per a recent tweet from Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar, even the Pixel 6a isn’t compatible. So, while many people are getting notified about 5G availability, the lack of required software updates isn’t allowing them to use the new-gen network.
This meeting is said to take place today and we shall get more updates on this soon. As for when the updates are expected, a recent report by ET Telecom hinted at a December timeline. This is primarily for Apple and a word on updates from other brands still remains unknown.
The report states, “Apple is presently testing their devices in cities like Mumbai and Delhi on Airtel’s 5G network and may roll out the update supporting 5G to supported iPhone models by December.” The test is also being conducted on the Jio network.
To recall, Airtel 5G Plus and Jio’s True 5G have started rolling out to users. While Airtel’s 5G is available in 8 cities, 5G by Jio is limited to 4 cities. Airtel’s True 5G is also compatible with phones from Realme, Xiaomi, Oppo, and more. Jio, on the other hand, doesn’t support a lot of devices.
We are still awaiting an update on this to have a better idea of when iPhones and more devices will start getting 5G. We will keep you posted once some information comes in. So, stay tuned to this space. Also, do let us know if you have started getting 5G on your devices in the comments below.
Featured Image: Representation of iPhone 13
