The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) organized a Symposium on ‘Emerging Trends and Technologies in Broadcasting Sector’ on October 17, alongside the India Mobile Congress (IMC-2024).
The symposium explored the transformative potential and practical applications of emerging technologies within the broadcasting industry, with a particular focus on digital radio, immersive technologies and D2M and 5G broadcasting.
More than 100 national and international participants, including key stakeholders from the broadcasting industry, technology giants, device manufacturers and government gathered to engage in the discussions and explore the future of broadcasting in the digital age.
The sessions were chaired by distinguished industry leaders and officers from the government. These sessions also featured expert speakers from renowned organizations, including specialists from the broadcasting sector, device and network manufacturers.
The session, ‘Digital Radio Technology: Deployment Strategies in India,’ examined the strategies for deploying digital radio for the Indian market. Experts discussed the advantages digital radio offers, including superior sound quality, spectrum efficiency and the ability to deliver multimedia services; along with the challenges and solutions for interoperability with existing analogue networks, enabling a smoother transition to digital broadcasting.
Shifting to digital radio technology will allow for efficient use of spectrum, said Sanjay Jaju, the Secretary of Information and Broadcasting. He mentioned that while radio is the most impactful medium for communication, current analog systems for radio broadcasting are spectrum-intensive and have capacity limitations.
“It is in this context that the transition to digital radio allows us tremendous opportunities, it will not just allow us to efficiently use the available spectrum, by allowing multiple channels to be available on the same frequency, but at the same time it will help us upgrade the quality of radio broadcasting,” he explained. Jaju mentioned that digital radio will free up the spectrum, allowing the government to reallocate it for other services. Emergency warning systems through digital radio will also allow the government to carry out effective disaster management.
Yogendra Pal, Chair of the India Chapter and Chairman of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium, said: “The software app is already available. The only thing which is required is the tuner which receives radio signals on mobile phones, which is currently analog, and has to give permission to receive digital radio content,” he explained.
Pal mentioned that DRM Consortium has discussed the same with mobile manufacturers and they are ready to provide this facility, provided the government announces a policy for digital radio.
This story first appeared on RadioInfo.asia