New challenge: Feature phone companies likely to red flag DoT mandate

Mobile device makers are raising concerns about a Department of Telecommunications (DoT) notification issued on September 17, mandating that all feature phones sold in the country support the ‘auto readout’ of emergency messages in Hindi, English, and four additional languages initially.

According to Counterpoint Research, India has 230 million feature phone users, most of whom rely on 2G services. However, the number of feature phones sold, which was 60 million in the calendar year (CY) 2023, is expected to decline to 55 million in CY 2024. Leading players in this market include Lava, itel, and Nokia.

Executives from the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) — the apex body for mobile device makers — explained that most feature phones currently lack the memory needed to support text-to-audio conversion and build voice engines for multiple languages, a feature that cannot be integrated into existing devices. However, this isn’t an issue for smartphones or 4G feature phones like those from Reliance Jio, which have sufficient memory.

For new feature phones, however, this requirement would drive up costs and prices and necessitate redesigns, affecting their architecture and production timelines.

The ICEA, which is expected to raise the issue with DoT, warns that this move could further harm smaller Indian brands, which hold a large share of the feature phone market.

Analysts suggest this could accelerate the shift of 2G customers to 4G, driven by affordable 4G feature phones, such as those from Jio, bundled with data packs.

Through an amendment to the Indian Wireless Telegraphy (Cell Broadcasting Service for Disaster Alerts) Act, no smartphone or feature phone can be sold in India without mandatory support for receiving cell broadcast messages in all Indian languages.

The notification requires that alert sounds, vibration, and light duration last for 30 seconds under standard conditions, and 15 seconds when the device auto-reads the message, or until the user acknowledges it, or for such duration as may be specified from time to time.

The notification also mandates that all phones sold in India must support the auto-readout of emergency messages in Hindi and English, with an Indian accent. Manufacturers, importers, and software developers must incorporate the auto-readout feature in four additional Indian languages each year until the feature is available in all languages.

New challenge for feature phones

> New requirements for feature phones to support ‘auto readout’ of emergency messages will increase their cost due to the need for more memory

> Currently, 230 million customers still use 2G services

> Feature phone sales, which stood at 60 million in CY 2023, are declining

> Mobile device makers warn that smaller Indian brands may struggle to survive

> The mandate may speed up the transition from 2G to 4G, benefiting Jio, which offers affordable 4G feature phones with adequate memory