Key Points

In line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for Viksit Bharat, Direct-to-Mobile is a broadcasting technology that uses terrestrial TV broadcast airwaves to deliver live TV, Video, Audio and text messages (multimedia content) of public and national importance (such as entertainment, sports, educational programming and emergency alerts) directly to phones without the need for Wi-Fi or internet service.

Giving a boost to the 'Make in India' and 'Design in India' efforts, low cost feature phones, smartphones and tablets are powered by Tejas Networks (Saankhya Labs) SL-3000 D2M chipsets, as previously announced.

In addition, Tejas Networks has developed a suite of infrastructure hardware and software products for D2M deployment in collaboration with Sinclair, Inc.

This technology has been under test in live networks by Prasar Bharati in partnership with IIT Kanpur and Tejas Networks over the past several years.

Through a statement, Sumeet Nindrajog, Director of Free Stream Technologies said, "We are pleased that Lava and HMD are doing the groundwork to rapidly create a viable device ecosystem for a nationwide deployment road map. Their willingness to supply in scale is the best vote of confidence for the future success of D2M."

In the same joint statement, Sanjeev Agarwal, Executive Director, Lava International, said, "Our D2M featurephone design incorporates the modem and the apps in a clever way to maintain low cost, which is a hallmark of our devices."

Ravi Kunwar, CEO and VP India and APAC, HMD India, said, "HMD has always been committed to staying ahead of the innovation curve and delivering the best consumer experience. With this philosophy at the core of our mission, we're excited to be a part of the D2M journey. This groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind platform worldwide enables our consumers to access a vast array of multimedia content."

Parag Naik, co-founder of erstwhile Saankhya Labs and Executive Vice President, Tejas Networks, said, "The phones are powered by Saankhya's award winning SL-3000 chipset, which is the foundational D2M enabler. We have also developed the Core Network platform that will enable delivery of targeted ads, CDN offload, educational content, emergency alerts and other apps that will empower the consumers furthering PM Modi's vision of a Digitally empowered India."

Chris Ripley, President and CEO, Sinclair, Inc., said, "Large scale adoption of ATSC 3.0 in affordable mobile devices vindicates Sinclair's forethought in leading US and global deployment of this broadcast standard as "mobile first" and in investing in Made by India technology. To meet future 6G goals, we are spearheading the next release of the standard - "Broadcast to Everything" (B2X) which will unleash next generation broadcast apps for numerous verticals."

These latest developments on D2M Broadcasting follow a proof of concept undertaken by IIT Kanpur for Prasar Bharati, the results of which were presented at a conclave held in 2022 to the leadership of TRAI, DoT and MIB.

A white paper released jointly by Prasar Bharati, IIT Kanpur and TSDSI during the conclave called for action in national interest. Building on the successful proof of concept, D2M technology was piloted across multiple sites in New Delhi which was showcased at the D2M for Bharat - India's Techade Summit held in January of 2024 with the heads of MIB, MeiTY, DoT and DST in attendance.

The announcement of indigenously developed D2M phones follows earlier international collaboration between India's first fabless chip design startup and an American Broadcaster laying the foundation for what is likely to be one of India's first deep-tech full stack from chips to platforms.

At a time when India and the United States have rekindled their bilateral collaboration on technology through the TRUST initiative, D2M is a shining example of what Narendra Modi's India as the world's largest democracy and Donald Trump's America as the world's oldest democracy can create together on harnessing the power of technology for the greater global good.

- ANI