Why India wants desi navigation tech on phones

Source: The post is based on the article “Why India wants desi navigation tech on phones” published in Livemint on 30th September 2022.

What is the News?

India is reportedly applying pressure on phone-makers to integrate its home-grown navigation system called NavIC. This may increase costs for manufacturers.

What is NavIC?

Click Here to read

Why does India need NavIC?

Navigation apps and mobiles in India typically use Global Positioning System(GPS) owned by the US government and operated by the US Air Force.  

According to a Reuters report, India wants to reduce its dependence on such technology from foreign countries.

This is because, in 1999, the US refused an Indian request for GPS data to track Pakistani troops in Kargil. Ever since, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has been working on Navigation with the Indian Constellation, or NavIC.

How does NaviC work compared to GPS systems? 

The GPS needs nearly 24 operational satellites and has 31 satellites in orbit. All 55 satellites are geosynchronous satellites which means that they do not remain stationary in space regarding the revolving earth.

NavIC has 3 geostationary satellites and 4 geosynchronous satellites which are placed in much higher orbits due to which the signal is less prone to obstructions.

The GPS uses a single frequency band while the NavIC satellites use dual frequency bands (L5-band and S-band).

NavIC is said to be accurate up to 5-10 meters on land against 20-30 meters for GPS.

Why is the NaviC phone rollout taking time? 

Making all new smartphones NavIC-ready can be challenging for handset makers since most of them do their product planning at least a year in advance, including phone components.

There’s another reason — navigation signals are currently broadcast from NavIC satellites in the L5 and S bands. Most mobile System on Chips(SoCs), however, support the LI band. But this can be addressed with a software update.