Government has been working on safety issues, and as a step towards maintaining one’s safety government has taken its first step.
(Working of GPS)
And it has released an order which states that, all mobile phones sold in India from January 2017 should be having an emergency panic button, while it should possess positioning system (GPS) by 2018.
The government has asked that either numeric key 5 or key 9 should be designated emergency numbers on mobiles.
What is GPS?
GPS is a satellite-based navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the earth, where there is unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites.
According to the Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, this step is taken in order to maintain women’s safety in India and the decision has been taken that from January 1, 2017, no cell phone can be sold without a provision for panic button and from January 1, 2018 mobile sets should have also GPS inbuilt.
The mobile will definitely bring more security for mobile users, especially children, women and elderly people. However the analyst has a doubt about the price hike.
Moreover, the handset makers have discussed the achievability of the plan with government, but they feel that GPS on feature phone needs to be examined and would require additional discussions with the ministry
Getting connected and working with the network is another part of concern, as the operators need to give free data for the emergency service and customize the network software to align with the handset, operators are not really sure whether this service will be chargeable or not.
It would be a great challenge for government to achieve its policy, by making it affordable for everyone.
