NavIC support to become must for all smartphones

The government will make it mandatory for smartphones to integrate with the made-in-India navigation system NavIC, the minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Thursday.

The devices can either provide support for NavIC-powered chips or use NavIC chipsets, he added. While 5G phones will need to provide mandatory support for NavIC by January 1, 2025, all other phones operating in the L1 band that currently use the Global Positioning System (GPS) will need to provide mandatory NavIC support by December 2025, he said.