New Delhi, India – November 7, 2024: TSDSI (Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India) is pleased to announce the approval of a significant new 5G Release 19 work item, LCS_NAVIC_L1_SPS_NR_LTE, at the recent 3GPP TSG RAN#105 Plenary in Melbourne, Australia. This initiative from TSDSI members, led by Reliance Jio with inputs from ISRO, marks a critical advancement in enabling NavIC L1 A-GNSS (Assisted GNSS) support in both 5G NR and LTE specifications.
Earlier, the TSDSI members, with Reliance Jio as the Rapporteur, had introduced a work item for NavIC L5 A-GNSS support in 3GPP Release 16 in September 2019. This was a key step towards enhancing location-based services and public safety across Indian networks.
NavIC, developed by ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), is a regional navigation satellite system tailored to meet India’s unique geospatial needs. The recently commissioned second-generation NavIC satellites have introduced support for the L1 band, improving Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services, and enabling interoperability with other global GNSS systems. With commercial GNSS receivers predominantly using L1 as the primary frequency band, the inclusion of NavIC L1 A-GNSS support in 3GPP Rel 19 specifications (to be finalised by December 2025), is expected to significantly reduce the time to first fix (TTFF) and improve location accuracy for mobile devices in India, enabling faster, more reliable, and highly accurate positioning services. It will directly address market demand, ensuring compatibility with existing GNSS infrastructure and devices. TSDSI will adopt the specifications as TSDSI standards.
This is a crucial step towards bringing India’s indigenous NavIC navigation system to the forefront of global standards. India will see enhanced public safety, logistics and emergency response capabilities, as well as improved location services for civilian users.
TSDSI congratulates all stakeholders, including OEMs, MNOs, chipset manufacturers, and research bodies, who supported this important achievement. Together, this collaborative effort positions NavIC as a key satellite navigation technology for the South Asian region.
