D2M for Bharat- 5G Broadcast Summit deliberates on Redefining Mobile Broadcasting Landscape

Driving India's Techade - D2M for Bharat - 5G Broadcast Summit, was successfully organized by IIT Kanpur and Saankhya Labs today, at New Delhi. The policymakers and industry representatives at the summit provided insights on the huge potential, and need for enabling a policy framework for the implementation of D2M.

In his inaugural keynote address, Amitabh Kant, Sherpa G20 and former CEO, NITI Aayog, talked about India’s digital ascent, a testament to India’s remarkable journey in the digital landscape. He added that Direct-to-Mobile has huge potential for adoption in India, saying “I really feel that we have come a long way from 2015, when Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Digital India. At the time, India’s global position was 123 in per capita data consumption, and by 2021, we have leapfrogged to being number 1 in this sphere.”

Tarun Kapoor, Advisor, PMO said, “I think we have reached a stage where the market is not only growing, but the customer also needs several options, therefore, a much larger market will provide more competition, and it will throw more options.”

Apurva Chandra (IAS), Secretary, Information & Broadcasting, GoI, “If we have to successfully deploy D2M in a short span, there is an imminent need to focus first on drafting a detailed framework with Prasar Bharati, to play a bigger role.

They could also play a role in developing and sustaining the D2M ecosystem as a public institution. There have been calls for an enabling policy framework for D2M, and this ministry is committed to extend all support to the idea of D2M”.

Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, GoI was of the opinion that, “almost 70-75% of the data is video data; therefore, you need a technology which can really optimize the transmission and consumption of video. In that sense, Direct-to-Mobile plays a very important role.”

S. Krishnan, (IAS) Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, GoI, talked about extraordinary innovations happening at IITs, suggesting that “the coming together of Saankhya Labs and IIT Kanpur has been a testament to this collaborative effort.“

Neeraj Mittal (IAS), Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, GoI said, “India stands at the cusp of digital revolution. Telecom infrastructure is enabling digital India ecosystem in India. The Government of India and Department of Telecommunication have ensured that India emerges as leaders in telecom equipment manufacturing, as a part of the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”

Sanjiv Shankar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, GoI said, “D2M is still expanding in a large number of countries including the US and UK. I see D2M as the next generation technology which can restore the position of content creation in the years ahead.”

Gaurav Dwivedi (IAS), CEO, Prasar Bharati talked about the implementation perspective of Direct-to-Mobile, where he mentioned that it is important to sell use cases and not the technology itself.

Pravin Kumar Purwar, MD & Chairman, BSNL said, “To bridge the artificial divide between rural and urban India we need to reduce the cost of the digital infrastructure to make it more accessible to the people.”

The three panel discussions deliberated on concrete actions in promoting Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) broadcasting as a major disruption in the mobile broadcasting space. The summit presented an elaborate understanding of Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) broadcasting technology, recognizing its potential to revolutionize mobile broadcasting. The summit also emphasized its seamless integration with broadband and 5G, offering a one-to-many content delivery system to over a billion mobile devices.

The first panel discussion was on Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) technology for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, which was moderated by Shri Kiran Deshpande, Global Board Member – TiE, and had Shri Shashi S Vempati, Ex – CEO, Prasar Bharati, Shri Sanjay Sharma, director, ICEA, Shri Ashok Malik, Partner and Chair of India Practice, The Asia Group and Shri Harit Nagpal, MD & CEO, Tata Play as the panellists.

The second panel discussion was on D2M - Challenges and Opportunities, which was moderated by Smt. Pamela Kumar, Chief Strategy Officer, FSID and had Shri Sanjiv Shankar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of I&B, GoI, Shri Mark Aitken, President, One Media, Shri Dhaval Ponda, Global Head, Media & Entertainment Business, Tata Communication and Shri Vivek Malhotra, CMO, India Today Group, as the panellists

The third panel discussion was on The Road ahead for D2M adoption, which was moderated by Shri Siddhartha Tipnis, Head, TMT, Consulting, Deloitte, South Asia, and had Shri Gaurav Dwivedi (IAS), CEO, Prasar Bharati, Shri Pravin Kumar Purwar, MD & Chairman, BSNL, Shri. Parag Naik, MD & CEO, Saankhya, and Shri Shashi Sinha, Chairman, BARC, as the panellists.

Delegates from telecom, media, and technology sectors had the invaluable opportunity of learning about the opportunities and challenges of D2M, gaining firsthand insights from policy experts and civil servants on India's technology landscape, on how D2M technology has emerged as a symbol of the power of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and other critical conversations in the Broadcasting and Telecommunication sector.

The D2M broadcasting technology developed by Saankhya Labs and IIT Kanpur leverages terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure and public broadcaster-assigned spectrum to transmit video, audio, and data signals directly to compatible mobile and smart devices. With the potential to reach over a billion mobile devices, the adoption of D2M technology promises transformative benefits. These include cost reductions in data transmission and access, improvements in network efficiency and resilience, and potential to lead in the establishment of a nationwide emergency alert system.