What's the news: Apple and Samsung will provide a software update to their phones in India by December to support 5G on eligible smartphones, Reuters reported on October 12. Status of other companies: Xiaomi: Already supports Airtel's 5G on eligible smartphones and will roll out support for Jio by the end of the month, Xiaomi India President Muralikrishnan B told Reuters. Oppo: Also supports Airtel's 5G and will roll out support for all compatible devices "at the earliest," Oppo India Vice President Tasleem Arif told the news outlet. Google: "Pixel 7, 7 Pro and Pixel 6a are 5G capable devices. We are actively working with the Indian carriers to enable functionality at the earliest," a Google spokesperson told Reuters. According to one interaction with the company's support team, an update supporting 5G will be released in December. Why does this matter: India's two largest telecom operators, Reliance Jio and Airtel, launched 5G services earlier this month in select cities and are looking to expand to more cities by the end of the year, but 5G-enabled smartphones from most manufacturers cannot support the latest generation network without a software update from the manufactures. The timeline provided by companies gives a better idea of when users can actually begin using 5G in India. Meeting with smartphone companies: These timelines come a day after the Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology held a meeting with executives from Apple, Samsung, Vivo and Xiaomi Corp, and telecom operators Reliance, Airtel and Vodafone Idea regarding the prioritisation of…
