The NavIC navigation system from India must be supported in any new smartphones that these businesses plan to sell starting in 2023.

One of the most widely used satellite-based navigation systems in India and the rest of the world to date is GPS, or Global Positioning System, which is owned by the US government.

To lessen reliance on GPS and other systems, India is currently attempting to promote its own navigation system.

Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone manufacturers appear to be concerned about this in the meantime because of “additional costs” and “a tight deadline.”

What is NavIC (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System)

For users in India, NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) is intended to deliver “more accurate domestic navigation.”

Although NavIC received approval in 2006, it didn’t begin full operations until 2018 when seven satellites began to cover the entire country of India. Three geostationary satellites and four geosynchronous satellites, all in much higher orbits, are part of the NavIC constellation.

Due to the dual frequency bands (L5-band and S-band) provided by NavIC satellites, the system is comparatively more accurate than GPS. In the main service area, the NavIC System is anticipated to deliver position accuracy that is better than 20 meters.

Why The Indian government wants Every smartphone maker to support NavIC?

To make NavIC a common service on par with GPS, India has aggressively promoted it. NavIC was created in part because India wanted to lessen its reliance on foreign systems like GPS (which is owned by the US govt) by developing its own technologies. Access to foreign government-controlled global navigation satellite systems is not always guaranteed in hostile environments.

Prior to that, India wants tech companies to make their products compatible with the new standard in order to help it expand NavIC coverage globally.

Why Do Smartphone Makers Have Concerns?

According to reports, the smartphone manufacturers, including Apple, Xiaomi, and Samsung, worry that adding NavIC support will sharply raise the cost of manufacturing their products.

Furthermore, the corporations argue that the January 2023 deadline is excessively severe because deploying such technologies would necessitate “additional testing clearances.”

Additionally, new chipsets and other hardware modifications are needed to support NavIC, and the majority of businesses are “already prepared for models to be launched in 2024. ” According to an According to a Samsung executive quoted in a Reuters story, it won’t be feasible to integrate NavIC into smartphones until 2025.

Tech companies are also worried by the NavIC system’s frequency of operation. The L5 satellite frequency, which is now used by the Indian government but much less frequently by cellphones (Apple now supports L5 with iPhone 14 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra). India is being urged by the firms to use the L1 frequency, which is the same as the GPS frequency.

Numerous devices, including the iPhone, already support GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou. However, as these systems were introduced much earlier than NavIC, it took some time for smartphone manufacturers to add support for them to their products.

Government’s Push for NavIC Adoption

Since NavIC enables enforcement agencies to monitor vehicles, which is not possible with global systems like GPS, it is already employed in public vehicle tracking systems in India.

All commercial vehicles in the nation are required to have NavIC-based vehicle trackers as of April 2019, according to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The DGCA changed the drone regulations for India in August 2021, making it obligatory to use made-in-India products, such as NavIC.

What are the reasons some countries are looking beyond GPS?

The location and path of navigation are precisely tracked and monitored by many countries using GPS, however other countries are looking into, testing, and building satellites to enhance their positioning capabilities.  As an example, GLONASS is fully operational in Russia (Globalnaya Navigazionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, or Global Navigation Satellite System).

GPS vs NavIC

Due to its seven satellites, NavIC is thought to be comparable to GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo. The GPS now has 31 satellites in orbit and requires almost 24 working satellites. All 55 of the satellites are geosynchronous, which means they rotate with the earth’s axis rather than remaining stationary in space.

With 3 geostationary satellites and 4 geosynchronous satellites in significantly higher orbits than the Earth, Navic’s signal is less susceptible to interference.

The system is comparatively more accurate than GPS since the NavIC satellites use two frequency bands (L5-band and S-band) as opposed to the GPS’s single frequency band.

On the Indian mainland and in the Indian Ocean, NavIC is intended to deliver an absolute location accuracy of fewer than 10 meters and less than 20 meters, respectively.

The Standard Positioning Service accuracy is 20 metres for both NavIC and GPS. However, in metropolitan areas where geolocation accuracy tends to deteriorate, NavIC’s location accuracy may significantly improve.

F&Q

Q 1. NavIC Full Form

A 1. NavIC Full Form is Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System

Q 2. NavIC for Public Use?

A 2. Yes Navic is for Public Use but The “regular locating service,” which is available for public use, and the “restricted service,” which is an encrypted one for authorized users (including the military), will be provided by NavIC.

Q 3. How to Download Navic App?

A 3. Search Map My India Navic on Playstore and Download

Q 4. How to Use Navic App?

A 4. This app requires a valid NavIC Bluetooth receiver, which includes an authentication key.

Q 5. How to Check NavIC app support My Phone?

A 5. First download GNSS test or GS Test app on your smart android phone Then Open Installed apps & Click on Start Test, now this app detecting all navigation satellites available, if this app shown all Indian satellite, its mean you’re smart android phone supports NavIC