The DRM Consortium have created this section dedicated to India, bringing together useful information about the status of the DRM digital radio standard in this country with 1.4 billion people, possibly the biggest digital radio roll-out project in the world.
Yogendra Pal, Hon. Chairman of the DRM India Chapter briefly describes radio broadcasting in the country and its progress so far.
Broadcasting Background
Radio broadcasting is one of the most popular and affordable means of mass communication in India, largely owing to its wide coverage, affordability, and mobility.
Terrestrial radio broadcasting is carried out in Medium Wave (MW) (526-1606 kHz), Short Wave (SW) (6-22 MHz) and VHF band II (88-108 MHz).
All India Radio (AIR), the public service broadcaster, used to be the sole radio broadcaster on the subcontinent. It has a vast network of 742 transmitters – 7 of SW, 122 of MW and 613 of FM. AIR’s coverage in MW + FM is 90% by area and 98% by population, whereas only around 59% by area in the FM band.
Private radio broadcasting in India was introduced in 2000 when commercial FM stations were allowed to broadcast programmes (mainly music) with local content. At present, 388 Private FM stations are operational, and the Indian government has announced plans to expand their operation.
In addition to the public service broadcaster AIR and private FM radio stations, Community Radio Stations (CRS) are also present in India.
Digital Radio broadcasting in the AM bands
AIR has already adopted and rolled out nation-wide digital radio services in the MW and SW bands, using the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) standard, the only ITU recommended a standard operational in all broadcasting frequency bands.
The rollout of DRM in the AM bands for regular domestic broadcasts by the Indian public broadcaster is ongoing. Currently 37 high power DRM medium wave and 4 DRM shortwave transmitters are installed. Four transmitters (one each in four metro cities) are now carrying pure DRM transmissions round the clock. The remaining 33 transmitters are working in simulcast mode with one hour daily in pure DRM.
AIR is carrying 2 to 3 digital audio services from a single MW transmitter, along with the Journaline text service. AIR has successfully tested the Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF) with DRM to alert the population during disasters. The tests were carried out in association with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). AIR has taken a number of inititiatives, including providing exclusive content, to popularise the DRM digital services. Radio enthusiasts are also carrying out demos of DRM services across the country.
At the request of the public broadcaster All India Radio, the DRM Consortium conducted a DRM for FM demonstration in Delhi and Jaipur some years back. Full features of DRM in pure DRM (single DRM block with up to 4 services – 3 audio and 1 multimedia each), also simulcast (analogue FM and up to 4 DRM blocks), multi-DRM (up to 6 DRM blocks, with 18 programmes) and DRM in white spaces (up to 5 DRM blocks in the white space of 600 kHz between 2 analogue FM stations) were successfully demonstrated without any interference.
In parallel to the AIR measurements, the DRM Consortium also took its own measurements, which showed excellent results. Based on these measurements, the Consortium prepared a full report available at: drm.org/8wBg.
A government decision for digitising the FM band in India is still expected.
Over 900 million people in India car receive DRM broadcasts.
Over 6 million new cars fitted with DRM receivers are on the roads in India by now. Major car brands using DRM for their infotainment systems are: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota, MG Motor, Mahindra, Mercedes Benz and Tata.
Digital Radio broadcasting in the FM band
Aware of the advantages of digital radio broadcasting, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the broadcasting regulator, has recommended to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that digital broadcasting in FM band (VHF band II) should also be allowed, without disturbing the existing analogue transmissions.
At the request of the public broadcaster AIR, the DRM Consortium conducted a DRM for FM test in India in Delhi and Jaipur in March 2021. Full features of DRM in pure DRM (single DRM block with up to 4 services – 3 audio and 1 multimedia), also simulcast (analogue FM and up to 4 DRM blocks), multi-channel DRM (up to 6 DRM blocks, with 18 programmes) and DRM in white spaces (up to 5 DRM blocks in the white space of 600 kHz between 2 analogue FM stations) were all successfully demonstrated during those tests.
In parallel to the measurements carried out by the public broadcaster, the DRM Consortium also took its own measurements, which showed excellent results. Based on these measurements, the Consortium has prepared a full report.
The first phase of the DRM trial was in Delhi and demonstrated the key features of DRM. Its efficient coverage potential and flexibility in on-air signal configurations were demonstrated from a standalone transmitter.
The second phase was carried out in Jaipur with the aim to prove the compatibility of DRM with the FM band “channelisation” in India, where DRM fills the gaps between existing analogue FM services that are not otherwise usable (“white spaces”), as well as its compliance with the existing CTI (shared FM transmitter infrastructure) sites. This was demonstrated by transmitting DRM signals between the white spaces between 2 analogue FM stations.
As it is known, the DRM standard in the FM band occupies a fixed spectrum: a bandwidth of 96 kHz per ‘block’ (i.e. DRM transmission signal) wherein it can carry up to 4 services; typically, up to 3 DRM Audio Services including PAD (programme associated data) and one DRM Data Service (such as Journaline).
After introducing DRM in India and successfully digitising the radio services in the AM bands (MW and SW), extending the same global, open, non-proprietary DRM standard to digitizing the FM band will save receiver manufacturers enormous costs (as there are NO additional IP royalties and DRM is a single standard with shared features across all broadcast bands), and therefore lead to more affordable digital radio receivers for Indian listeners.
The government of India still needs to announce their decision for the digitisation of the FM band.
News and Articles
The following list highlights some of the most important recent news with reference to DRM in India. See news.drm.org for more items.