The government requests that all 4G phones costing more above Rs 10,000 be discontinued.

In a meeting with phone companies on Wednesday, top representatives from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) demanded that they fully transition to 5G. Mobile manufacturers have only three months to transition to 5G services with 5G smartphones, according to government officials.

A report from ANI claims that there are approximately 750 million mobile phone customers in India, out of which 350 million people use phones that support 3G or 4G, and 100 million people have 5G-capable phones. According to reports, the government has instructed smartphone manufacturers to gradually stop making 3G-4G compatible phones that cost more than Rs 10,000 and convert entirely to 5G technology.

Both Airtel and Jio are currently providing their 5G services in a certain places. Jio 5G is accessible in 4 locations, but Airtel is launching its 5G Plus service across a total of 8 cities. Both telecom companies have stated that other cities will soon have access to 5G. Jio said that its 5G services would be available nationwide by the end of 2023, while Airtel stated that its 5G services would be available nationwide by March 2024.

Currently, some 5G smartphone owners in cities that qualify can utilise Jio or Airtel 5G service, but some 5G phone owners are unable to access high-speed internet. That’s because only three bands—n28, n78, and n258—are supported by both Jio and Aitel’s 5G services. Your smartphone must support these bands in order to use Jio or Airtel 5G services without any issues.

The topic of smartphone manufacturers’ and telecom operators’ participation in the rollout of software FOTA updates for all 5G devices was also discussed during the meeting. Although certain handsets support 5G, they cannot use Jio or Airtel’s 5G services. In that situation, the OEM will now need to distribute an upgrade so that the phone can support 5G. The necessary OTA update will be pushed by a number of smartphone manufacturers, including Apple and Samsung, in the upcoming weeks and months. Even the most recent iPhone 14 series is not currently compatible with Jio or Airtel 5G.