All cell phones must support Indian languages from July

Govt makes it compulsory to give message typing facility in English, Hindi, regional language

NEW DELHI: Government has mandated support for Indian languages in all mobile phones to be sold in the country from July 1, 2017 onward. “In exercise of the power conferred by clause 10(1) of Bureau of Indian Standard Act... the central government, hereby includes the Indian language support for mobile phone as per IS 16333(Part-3) to the schedule of ‘Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirement for compulsory Registration) Order, 2012”, an official notification said.

As per the new mandate, all mobile phones in the country will have to provide text reading support in all Indian languages on their devices. The new standard mandates mobile phone companies to provide message typing facility in English, Hindi and a regional language of their users choice.

“The provisions of ‘Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order 2012' .... shall apply for the aforesaid inclusion by virtue of this order with effect from July 1, 2017,” the notification said.

The notification mandates both smartphones and feature phones to provide language support. “It was one of most awaited step and a landmark decision which will pave way for connecting next 1 billion people most of whom will be non-english speaking.

“The order is in line with Digital India vision of bridging digital divide,” Indian Cellular Association National President Pankaj Mohindroo said.

He said that government and industry were on the same page on this issue. “The support for Indian language has potential to grow e- governance transactions, e-commerce business etc multifold, once non-english speaking people are able to access mobile platform in their own language,” Mohindroo said. Meanwhile, optical fibre maker Sterlite Technologies posted 40 per cent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 56 crore in the second quarter ended on September 30, 2016.

The company registered a net profit of Rs 39.97 crore in the same period a year ago. Total income from operations, however, declined by 3.6 per cent to Rs 550.65 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 571.43 crore in the same period last year.

“We are witnessing an expanding optical fibre demand globally and good traction in upcoming network & system integration opportunities in India. With strong industry sentiments around 4G, Smart City, Bharatnet and FTTH deployments, we remain bullish on India market and opportunities it presents across our business segments from optical communication products to services and software,” Sterlite Technologies CEO Anand Agarwal said in a statement.

The quarter saw a strong and expanding global demand for Optical Fibre, supported by growth in the China market. Sterlite Tech posted a total volume of 6.1 million fibre kilometer(fkm) in the reported quarter compared to 5.5 million fkm in previous quarter. The company said it added new orders worth Rs 731 crore in the current quarter, leading to order book of Rs 2,324 crore at the end of first half of current financial year.

“With an expanding order book of currently Rs 2,324 crore and a strong pipeline of over Rs 10,000 crore of opportunities under decision, we are committed to deliver stronger performance in the coming quarters,” Agarwal said.

During the quarter, Sterlite Tech's US patent application marked its entry into a strategic opportunity area of sensory applications for smart cities, surveillance, security, and related applications. Shares of Sterlite Tech closed at Rs 105.25 apiece today at BSE, down by 1.64 per cent from previous close.