The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and smartphone brand Oppo India Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work towards the research & development (R&D) of the NavIC messaging service.

The pact also paves the way to develop indigenous solutions by incorporating the NavIC short messaging feature in Oppo India’s smartphones.

This will further enable ISRO and Oppo India to exchange technical information of NavIC messaging services so as to build ready-to-use, end-to-end application-specific solutions by integrating NavIC with the mobile handset platform, to serve the needs of Indian users.

“Under our latest MoU, we will support ISRO with our industry-leading R&D capabilities to provide a seamless experience to the users of NavIC application,” said Tasleem Arif, Vice President, India R&D Head, Oppo India. “Oppo will invest in further scaling the product with its competitive and experienced R&D team.”

K Sivan, Secretary, DOS/Chairman, ISRO appreciated the efforts of Oppo India in scaling NavIC application through their innovative R&D initiatives. He also urged Oppo India to include NavIC in all their upcoming products.

NavIC system provides regional navigation services covering the Indian mainland and an area up to 1500 km beyond the Indian mainland. In addition to its primary function of providing PNT services, NavIC is also capable of broadcasting short messages. This messaging service is mainly used for broadcasting safety-of-life alerts in areas with poor or no communication, particularly in the oceans.