Apple, Samsung to roll out 5G enabled services on mobiles by year-end

New Delhi, Oct 12

iPhone users will have to wait till end of December to use 5G services while Samsung will roll out over the air (OTA) facility by mid-November.

This was announced by the two major mobile phone makers on Wednesday after a meeting was convened jointly by Telecom and Electronics departments with mobile handset makers and mobile service providers to discuss issues related to 5G rollout.

An OTA update is the wireless delivery of new software, firmware, or other data to mobile devices. Wireless carriers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) typically use over-the-air updates to deploy firmware and configure phones for use on their networks over Wi-Fi or mobile broadband.

Government had rolled out 5G services on October 1 and Wednesday's meeting was called to discuss modalities of making mobile handsets compatible with the new technology, so that users can avail 5G benefits at the earliest.

Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi were among the major mobile phone makers present in the meeting, which was presided over by Telecom as well as IT secretaries.

"We are working with our carrier partners in India to bring the best 5G experience to iPhone users as soon as network validation and testing for quality and performance is completed. 5G will be enabled via a software update and will start rolling out to iPhone users in December," iPhone maker Apple said in statement after the meeting.

Samsung also issued a statement after the meeting, saying that it will roll out OTA updates across all its 5G devices by mid-November.

"Samsung has pioneered 5G technology development since 2009 and took the leading role in standardizing 5G technology globally. In India, Samsung has the widest portfolio of 5G devices. We are working closely with our operator partners and are committed to rolling out OTA updates across all our 5G devices by mid-November 2022, enabling Indian consumers to experience 5G seamlessly," said a Samsung India spokesperson.