Glitch in 4G dual-sim smartphones hampering quality; phone makers seek government’s help

There have been reports of a peculiar glitch associated with some dual-SIM 4G smartphones that ruins the quality of services provided by them. This has forced telecom service providers to knock on government's door for urgent intervention.

The Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), of which Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio Infocomm are members, said that in 4G-enabled, dual-SIM smartphones with MediaTek chipset, the flow of data in the primary 4G SIM slot was hampered after placing a 4G LTE-only SIM in the second slot, which is meant for 2G SIMs.

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COAI director general Rajan Mathews wrote a letter to the secretary of DoT and TRAI, proposing that smartphone makers must be asked to fix the issue using an over-the-air upgrade in the next four weeks or withdraw such devices from the market.

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MediaTek, the Taiwan-based chipset manufacturer, acknowledged getting reports about such technical glitches in handsets and said that they are being handled with utmost priority.

COAI also urged the government to ensure that devices with 2G SIM slots are discontinued in the coming six months, and only dual-SIM smartphones with both slots configured for 3G or 4G services remain in the market.

(Image source: The Better India)