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Mandatory GPS not in consumer interest

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CIOL Writers
New Update

When the Government of India decided that all phones, in order to be legal, should have Panic button and built-in GPS, from January 1, 2017, and January 1, 2018, respectively, they must not have thought about the flipside. In India, where a majority of people use feature phones (basic phones) because they come at cheap prices, not all users can afford to upgrade to newer devices, causing the implementation to look a little deceptive.

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The mobile handset makers have started to argue against the "mandatory" decision of the telecom department, as according to them, "The price of basic phones would go up by Rs 400 as the cheapest phone available in the market is for Rs 500."

CIOL mandatory gps not in consumer interest

Though the handset makers are fine with the panic button feature as it would require just a software change, the GPS component would cost up to Rs 66.7 and the required software would hike the overall cost to Rs 400, making it difficult for them also to get the number of trades high.

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"Implementation of GPS in new mobile handsets will not be in the interest of consumers at the bottom of the pyramid," said Indian Cellular Association (ICA) president Pankaj Mohindroo’s letter to Telecom Secretary, JS Deepak.

The numeric keys 5 and 9 were identified as push buttons for an emergency in feature phone handsets. In smartphones, handset manufacturers will have to provide an 'emergency' button or a facility to send an alert by short pressing the power on/off button thrice in quick succession.

"We are already working on incorporating the panic button in our phones and should be able to meet the timelines prescribed by the ministry," said Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, head-mobile business, Intex Technologies.

We hope that the panic button which is also being called as "unified helpline", will result in quick action and response from the concerned authorities.

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