India explores live TV on phone without internet

The government is exploring the feasibility of beaming TV channels live on mobile phones. Moreover without a data connection, on the lines of direct-to-home (DTH). Termed D2M (direct-to-mobile), the technology will allow mobile phone users to watch TV on their devices. Against to watching TV through a cable or DTH connection. India explores live TV on phone without internet.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), as well as IIT-Kanpur are working on the details. Government officials aware of the matter said. The telecom operators, are likely to strongly oppose the proposal. Because it will eat into their data revenue, most of which comes from video consumption, and hurt their 5G business case.

“We are exploring the feasibility. The final decision will be taken after meeting all the stakeholders, including the telecom operators,” one of the officials told ET, asking not to be named.

A meeting on the issue is planned for next week, which is likely to be attended by officials from DoT, MIB, IIT-Kanpur as well as representatives from the telecom and broadcast industry.

Officials said the government’s belief is that there should be convergence for delivering content through broadcast and broadband. particularly with the launch of 5G.

Currently, the reach of TV is limited to around 210-220 million homes. There are around 800 million smartphone users in the country, which is expected to reach 1 billion by 2026. As per reports, over 80% of internet traffic is video. which makes the mobile a perfect candidate for broadcast delivery along with TV.

The addressable market is huge. The government wants to utilise this for content delivery, particularly educational and other necessary content like emergency alert systems etc, one of the officials said.