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[75]50 comment bubble on white
India calls for all mobile phones to include FM radios
[76]50 comment bubble on white
Where feature phones remain prevalent, Spotify is not an option and the 'net
is little use in an emergency
icon [77]Simon Sharwood
Thu 11 May 2023 // 05:02 UTC
(BUTTON)
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has
issued an advisory reminding mobile phone manufacturers they should
include an FM radio tuner in their products.
Yes, you read that right: an FM radio.
"It has been brought to the notice of the Ministry that during the last
4/5 years there is a drastic fall in mobile phones with FM tuners
feature, thereby affecting not only the ability of the poor to get free
FM radio services, but also the Government's ability to disseminate
real-time information during emergencies, disasters and calamities,"
states the [78]advisory [PDF].
The document next cites International Telecommunications Union advice
about radio broadcasts being an excellent medium for communicating far
and wide during emergencies, adding: "The availability of vast network
of FM transmitters and FM radio in the country played a key role in
India's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In view of the above, it should be ensured that wherever the mobile
phone is equipped with an inbuilt FM radio receiver function or
feature, that function or feature is not disabled or deactivated but is
kept enabled/activated in the mobile phone.
"Further, it is advised that if the FM radio receiver function or
feature is not available in the mobile phones, it may be included."
The advisory ends with a call for the Indian Cellular and Electronics
Association and Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology
to share the document with their members.
To understand this circular, note that it refers to "mobile phones" and
not "smartphones." The distinction matters in India, where feature
phones remain common – IDC recently [79]reported 57 million of the
devices shipped in India during 2022, compared to 201 million
smartphones.
India’s biggest mobile carrier, Jio, offers a feature phone and a year
of free calls for ₹1499 – about $18.30. That's an affordable sum for
many Indians and an indicator that Jio's ₹4999 ($61) smartphone is out
of reach for many.
* [80]Google creates 'optimized' Android for one smartphone — that
will only be sold in India
* [81]Nokstalgia: HMD Global introduces yet another homage to the
past – a 4G rework of the Nokia 6300
* [82]Nokia 5310: Retro feature phone shamelessly panders to
nostalgia, but is charming enough to be forgiven
* [83]India to build contact-tracing app for feature phones that
still use 2G, don't have Bluetooth and can't run apps
India's mobile data networks also don't yet cover the entire nation,
making a smartphones of limited use in many locations.
Note also that the advisory mentions the possible deactivation of FM
radios. While the radio chipsets used in phones can handle many
frequencies, including those used by FM, many handset manufacturers may
have chosen not to enable the function in the silicon they employ.
MeitY's call for manufacturers to include FM radios in their hardware
is therefore recognition that they are needed – by Indian consumers,
and to assist with emergencies. And that with a little care, India's
feature phones can be made more useful without imposing a formal
regulatory requirement on manufacturers. ®
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https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=6&c=66ZF58KPt156aM7zVA3@EbLQAAAIw&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D6%26raptor%3Dhawk%26pos%3Dbtm%26test%3D0
142.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/12/india_whatsapp_spam_privacy_demands/?td=keepreading
143.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/25/india_tech_laws/?td=keepreading
144.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/05/zoho_creates_browser_with_open/?td=keepreading
145.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/19/india_tech_tax_wto_rukling/?td=keepreading
146.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/20/india_quantum_mission/?td=keepreading
147.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/06/india_no_ai_regulation/?td=keepreading
148.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/04/twitter_bans_pakistan_boosts_china/?td=keepreading
149.
https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/02/asia_tech_news_roundup/?td=keepreading