Lok Sabha Question No. 439 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-27
Subject: Digital Radio and Direct to Mobile Broadcast
Ministry: INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
Asked by: Shri Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Shri Yogender Chandolia, Shri P P Chaudhary, Shri Chavda Vinod Lakhamshi, Shri Shankar Lalwani, Smt. Shobhanaben Mahendrasinh Baraiya, Shri Tejasvi Surya, Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey, Shri Vijay Baghel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 439 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2024)

## DIGITAL RADIO AND DIRECT TO MOBILE BROADCAST.

## 439. Shri Chavda Vinod Lakhamshi:

Shri Vijay Baghel:

Shri P P Chaudhary:

Shri Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri:

Shri Shankar Lalwani:

Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey:

Shri Yogender Chandolia:

Shri Tejasvi Surya:

Smt. Shobhanaben Mahendrasinh Baraiya:

## Will the Minister of INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING be pleased to state:

- (a) the role of digital Radio and Direct to Mobile (D2M) Broadcast as an affordable mass communication tool;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to support the emerging technologies in the Broadcast sector along with the expenditure incurred thereon;
- (c) whether the Government has collated any details on the number of such digital radio and D2M channels in the country and if so, the details thereof along with the State-wise distribution thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has conducted any assessment of digital radio and Direct to Mobile (D2M) broadcasting as mass communication tools in the country, if so, the details thereof including their potential reach and cost-effectiveness, State-wise;
- (e) the specific plans and timeline for rolling out digital radio and D2M broadcasting services across the country, State-wise; and
- (f) whether any pilot projects for D2M broadcasting have been initiated and if so, the details thereof including the locations and outcomes?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING; MINISTER OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF RAILWAYS (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a): Direct to Mobile (D2M) broadcasting is a new technology as it enables direct delivery  of  broadcast  signals  (video,  audio,  data)  to  mobile  phones  and  smart devices (without SIM) by leveraging terrestrial broadcast infrastructure. The D2M network can be used to inform, educate and entertain the masses at free/affordable costs  and  can  also  be  used  as  a  data  pipe  to  deliver  educational  content, emergency alerts, disaster management updates etc. (b):  The  Ministry  of  Information  and  Broadcasting  promotes  adoption  of  the emerging  technologies  in  broadcasting  sector  by  issuing  appropriate  policy directions  from  time  to  time.  Further,  Prasar  Bharati  continuously  upgrades  the Akashvani  and  Doordarshan  networks  by  adopting  emerging  technologies  in broadcasting sector viz. digitalization of network, upgradation to latest equipments etc. Prasar Bharati has stated that it has incurred an expenditure of Rs 504.12 Crore towards digitalization of Medium Wave and Short Wave transmitters in Akashwani during the period 2010 to 2021. Further Prasar Bharati has also entered into an MoU with IIT-Kanpur for studying D2M broadcasting technology. (c) to (f): Prasar Bharati has conducted experimental studies on two digital radio broadcasting  standards  in  the  popular  FM  band  at  Delhi  and  Jaipur  during  the years  2020  and  2021.  Further,  Prasar  Bharati  has  stated  that  Akashwani  has installed  35  Medium  Wave  (MW)  and  3  Short  wave  (SW)  Digital  Radio  Mondiale (DRM) Transmitters for Digital terrestrial radio broadcasting which are capable to operate  in  Digital  mode,  Analog  mode  and  can  simulcast  in  both  the  modes. Further,  3  more  Digital-ready  MW  transmitters  have  also  been  upgraded  to  MW

DRM.

In  respect  of  D2M  broadcasting technology, after assessing D2M technology, IIT Kanpur  has  released  a  White  Paper  and  demonstrated  a  large  scale  Proof  of Concept (PoC) using Prasar Bharati infrastructure in Bengaluru and in Delhi.

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