DRM – Only Logical, Cost-Effective Solution for Indian FM Digitisation

This has been the main argument made to the Indian regulator in the Open House Discussion and in the written submissions. Some of the points are quite clear. DRM delivers digital quality, is cost-effective, fosters creativity and progress. It can bring benefits to the audience but also financial and social rewards.

DRM is global, open and covers all frequency bands and therefore the needs of India. It can offer full country (and international) coverage. It can offer each Indian citizen, no matter where he/she is (or whether listening to public, commercial or community stations) information, education, entertainment, and disaster warnings.

As an open standard DRM fosters competition and innovation. The competition should be between broadcasters and manufacturers using DRM to the full rather than waste time in feeding a competition between standards.

Going for two standards or letting the “market forces” decide would be unprecedented in the world radio sphere; it would be divisive, would create havoc in the market, make obsolete some of the big effort and investments made already and derail and even destroy the digitisation process in India.

DRM is a digital flexible standard. It can be used in pure digital mode, where it works best, and in simulcast/hybrid, if required. DRM is the only standard that could fit the current Indian spectrum – the existing white spaces – and planning parameters of India. A digital block or signal linked to a particular analogue station can be placed anywhere in the FM band (and not be stuck either side of the analogue signal using powers that might be not optimum and creating possibly interference), while the analogue/digital programme offer gets coordinated and displayed in the receiver. A single button for a station to be accessed in both analogue and digital can be realised as this is not a technical issue linked to the characteristics of the standard.

DRM is already deployed in AM and extending it to FM would be just a further application of the standard to the VHF band II.

DRM can become part of the national disaster management effort, as Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF) in DRM has been proven to work and has been tested in India.

DRM has been part of the Indian radio ecosystem for several years. After important investments and transfer of know-how, about 7 million cars are currently displaying DRM AM receivers – 1 million of which are using Indian produced chipsets, while the rest rely on global chipsets, tested, improved by Indian top experts. Upgrading AM receivers, car or standalone, from AM to FM can be done using software rather than changing the hardware.

DRM is more than any other standard possibly the one that could use the FM architecture in mobiles to deliver DRM radio in billions of receivers. DRM in VHF Band II is compatible with a tuner designed for FM (specifically in RF bandwidth) where the alternative solution is not. (This works only with chipsets digitising the baseband and delivering this to the MCU though). This means that any mobile phone hardware that includes an FM receiver can be re-purposed for DRM with only software. A clear decision and signal from the government would immediately increase the interest and competition for delivering such mobile/radio receiver sets. The dongles for mobiles and PAD exist and the apps are available on the biggest platforms (i.e. Amazon etc.).

DRM has already proven its commitment and alignment with the Make in India ambition and the over 100 DRM members, some of whom are manufacturers, are willing to cooperate and work with Indian partners.