Digital Radio and Direct-to-Mobile Technologies Transform Mass Communication; Enable Affordable Entertainment and Education, and Robust Critical Messaging

Digital radio and Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) technologies revolutionise mass communication by optimizing spectrum to deliver multiple channels over a single frequency. Digital radio provides an affordable, free-to-air ecosystem. D2M extends this by broadcasting video, audio and data directly to mobile handsets using terrestrial infrastructure, independent of SIM cards or mobile data. This creates a robust "data pipe" for disseminating affordable entertainment, education, and critical emergency or disaster management alerts.

Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) or spam calls are regulated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) under its Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR). With a view to control UCC, TRAI has implemented a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform (blockchain technology) on which consumers can register their preferences regarding receipt of promotional communication. Principal entities (businesses like banks, insurance companies, airlines etc.) and telemarketers are also registered on the DLT platform. In addition, a complaint mechanism has been implemented on the DLT platform for registration of complaints from both registered and unregistered telemarketers. It facilitates the flow of complaints among various access service providers for taking action.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting supports and promotes adoption of emerging technologies in broadcasting sector by issuing appropriate policy directions from time to time. The Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development (BIND) scheme, a Central Sector Scheme, is for the development, modernization and upgradation of broadcasting infrastructure of Doordarshan and Akashvani. Under this scheme, Prasar Bharati continuously upgrades the Akashvani and Doordarshan networks by adopting emerging technologies in broadcasting sector. It includes digitalization of network and upgradation to latest equipment as per emerging technology.

This Information was submitted by the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Dr. L. Murugan in a written reply in Lok Sabha today in response of questions asked by Shri Rao Rajendra Singh.

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Mahesh Kumar/ Vivek Vishwash