Can it not be removed? Or cracked?

Counterpoint:

You can say anything in an authoritarian state, the consequences are that you’ll get disappeared in the night.

There’s a lot of hidden cost associated with supporting legacy features/standards/technology

Do they have different frequencies? Require different antennas?

Are there cost implications for radios / amplifiers? Do ASICs support only newer modes? How much obsoleted / legacy HW is required?

And that’s just from a manufacturer standpoint.

Are more licenses required? Or other regulatory impacts?

A broken clock is right twice a day.