Context :
Direct-to-Mobile
broadcasting Roundup: Everything you need to know about this new technology / 10 Nov 2022
Extract :
The Department of
Telecommunications and India’s public service broadcaster Prasar Bharti has
been working on a technology
that will allow the broadcasting
of video and other forms of multimedia content directly to mobile phones, without a need for an active
internet connection.
This technology is being
called a ‘Direct-to-Mobile’ (D2M)
service and it claims to improve the consumption of broadband and utilization
of spectrum.
The technology is based on the convergence of broadband
and broadcast, using which smartphones
will receive terrestrial digital TV.
This would be similar to how an FM radio works on your phone, where a
receiver can tap into radio frequencies. Using D2M, multimedia content will also be beamed to phones directly. OTT
platforms like Netflix can also use
the D2M tech to push multimedia content to mobile phones directly.
What can D2M do for everyone?
The D2M tech will help the government convey
important information directly to the people, issue emergency alerts,
counter fake news, and assist with disaster management.
It will help the cable
and DTH sectors to broadcast
now to homes without needing any intermediary.
The telecom and internet service providers will be able
to offload video traffic from their mobile
network onto the broadcast network. This will increase the data
speeds and reduce call drops substantially.
For the consumers, it would mean access to multimedia content
from VoD or OTT platforms without exhausting their mobile data and at a nominal price.
This will be more useful for those in rural areas, as they have
limited or no internet access to watch videos. Users living in places with
limited or no internet access will be able to watch video content without an
active internet connection.
The new D2M tech will support students to
access educational content for schools and colleges in remote areas.
Farmers can access weather forecasts and information on different cultural
practices without the internet.
What has DoT done to bring D2M?
The Department of
Technology has conducted a study to find a spectrum band that will help offer broadcast services directly to users’
smartphones.
IIT Kanpur collaborated
with Prasar Bharti to test the feasibility of the D2M tech and delivered proof
of the concept. Prasar Bharti uses the 526-582 MHz band for terrestrial TV
broadcasting and the same band is said to work in sync for both mobile and
broadcast services.
When can D2M tech be expected?
The D2M technology is still in a nascent stage in the country
and won’t be available before 3-4 years.
Challenges to D2M tech
Prasar Bharti’s CEO claims that bringing key
stakeholders like mobile operators on board will be the biggest challenge
in launching D2M technology on a wide scale.
I&B Ministry Secretary Apurva Chandra said a mass roll-out
of the tech will need some changes in infrastructure and some regulatory
changes as well.
================================================
Direct-to-mobile broadcasting pilot study in
Delhi-NCR soon
/ ECO TIMES / 18 Nov 2022
Extract :
A pilot study on direct-to-mobile broadcasting, that has
the potential to enhance the reach of the television manifold will be carried
out in the Delhi National Capital Region, soon , Information and Broadcasting
Secretary Apurva Chandra said on Thursday
Currently, there are about 20 crore television households in the country. India has over 60 crore
smart phone users and 80 crore broadband users.
Reach of the television media is set to be much higher, he said
MY TAKE :
Not a day passes without some mobile phone manufacturer launching a “ Smarter
“ smart phone
having new capabilities and vastly enhanced capacities
To get some idea of the rate at which the Smart phones are getting ever more
powerful, consider
this :
“ To
put that into more concrete terms, the latest phones typically have 4GB of RAM. That is 34,359,738,368 bits. This is more than one million (1,048,576 to be exact) times more memory than the Apollo computer had in RAM. The iPhone
also has up to 512GB of ROM memory.
That is 4,398,046,511,104 bits, which is more seven million times more than that of the guidance computer.
But memory isn’t the only thing that
matters. The Apollo 11 computer had
a processor – an electronic circuit that performs operations on external data
sources – which ran at 0.043 MHz.
The latest iPhone’s processor is estimated to run at about 2490 MHz. Apple do not advertise the
processing speed, but others have
calculated it.
This means that the iPhone
in your pocket has over 100,000 times the processing power of
the computer that landed man on the moon 50 years ago.
==================================================
Dear Shri
Vaghelaji ,
[ P.D. Vaghela, cp@trai.gov.in, , chairperson of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
-Trai ]
Only 2 days ago, you
said :
“ Therefore, in the new technological world of convergence, we need to
deliberate on the possible alignment of regulatory regime keeping in view the
scenario of ‘ multiple screens, same content ’. At Trai, we believe in policies
and regulations that are technology-neutral."
(
source : Convergence
of Content )
The above-quoted news report talks of the following screens
:
Ø TV
Screens ………………………………………… 20 crore
Ø Smart
Phone Screens ………………………… 60 crore
Ø Desktop/Tablet
Screens………………………80 crore
What it leaves out, are :
Ø Smart
Watch Screens………………………… ?
Ø AR-VR-MR
headset Screens……………….. ?
It also leaves out Screens of billions of following IoT
connected:
Ø Eye
glasses …………… ……………………………?
Ø Devices
( Alexa / Google Mini ).………… ?
Ø Domestic
appliances…………………………….?
Ø Medical Devices…………………………………… ?
It is only a matter of time before “ Direct – to – Mobile “ broadcasting of videos
covers, not only those 60 crore “ Mobile Phone Screens “ but TRILLIONS of
screens listed above
And these screens will carry ADVERTISEMENTS based on the “ Viewing History “ of
each screen
Question :
If not based on “ Viewing History “ but based on current method of TRP (
Television Rating Points ) calculated by Bar-O-Meters, then how will advertising
work ?
Answer :
Each screen will become a Bar –O – Meter ( a super-computing set top box )
working on Return
Path Data ( RPD )
With billions of screens helping to compute TRP , there will be no manipulations
What is more, since thousands of VIDEO CHANNELS will be streaming videos on
any of the above-mentioned screens simultaneously at any given time , it will be
almost impossible for a consumer / user / device-owner, to be able to “ SELECT
and SUBSCRIBE “ a few channels in ADVANCE ( just too many options / paradox
of
choice )
This will lead to “ Pay Per Use “ ( measured in “ minutes of viewing “ ) for
viewers
In turn, this will enforce “ Pre-Payment “ only
Dear Shri Vaghelaji,
You may want to keep in mind the above-mentioned “ Technology Scenario “ while
drawing up your “ Regulatory Framework “
No one knows it better than yourself that the Regulatory Frameworks are
notoriously lagging behind technological advances
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
hcp@RecruitGuru.com /
20 Nov 2022
Related Readings :
Ø Make
Every TV, a Computer ? First Step taken [
05 Nov 2021 ]
Ø Thank
You , cp@trai.gov.in.............................
[ 20 June 2020 ]
Ø TRP
: Manipulation can be Eliminated……………….. [ 08 Oct 2020 ]
Ø The
Future of TV Viewing ?...............................[ 28 Mar 2019 ]
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