TRAI Releases Consultation Paper on Digital Radio Policy
- 01 Oct 2024
On 30th September 2024, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a consultation paper on formulating a digital radio broadcast policy for private radio broadcasters, highlighting the benefits of digital radio over traditional analogue services.
- The consultation paper emphasizes that digital radio broadcasting can broadcast three to four channels on a single frequency carrier, improving audio quality and offering more content options compared to analogue radio, which only allows one channel per frequency.
- Analogue terrestrial radio in India is currently transmitted in medium wave (526–1606 KHz), short wave (6–22 MHz), and VHF-II (88–108 MHz) spectrum bands, with VHF-II being popularly known as the FM band due to the use of Frequency Modulation technology.
- Public service broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) provides its radio services in medium/short wave and FM bands, while private sector broadcasters are currently limited to transmitting in the FM frequency band (88-108 MHz) only.
- TRAI notes that AIR has already started digitizing its analogue medium and short wave radio networks, replacing 38 analogue transmitters with digital ones, and has also conducted trials for digital radio technology in the FM band, though private broadcasters are yet to begin this process.
- In 2018, TRAI had already made recommendations on the need to develop a digital radio broadcasting ecosystem by bringing together broadcasters, transmission equipment manufacturers, and digital radio receiver manufacturers to collectively work toward this goal.
- The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had sought TRAI's recommendations in April 2024, requesting a policy framework for digital radio broadcasting and noting that some aspects of the existing FM Phase-III policy may need to be reviewed to accommodate technological advancements.
