In a recent article published by The Hindu Business Line MIB may back open-source DRM tech for digital radio – The Hindu Businessline, the suggestion is that while the debate on FM band digitisation continues, Prasar Bharati has already deployed the open standard Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) for some of its radio stations, though this is mainly in AM (mediumwave and shortwave).

The author quotes the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in its reply to Lok Sabha (or the Lower Chamber of the Indian Parliament) as a possible indication of the central authorities’ preference for an open standard, when it comes to choosing between the open Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) and the proprietorial HD standard: “Prasar Bharati (the public radio and TV broadcaster) has conducted experimental studies on two digital radio broadcasting standards in the popular FM band at Delhi and Jaipur during the years 2020 and 2021. Further, Prasar Bharati has stated that Akashwani (public radio broadcaster) has installed 35 Medium Wave (MW) and 3 Short wave (SW) Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Transmitters for Digital terrestrial radio broadcasting which are capable to operate in Digital mode, Analog mode and can simulcast in both the modes. Further, 3 more Digital-ready MW transmitters have also been upgraded to MW DRM”.

Earlier in the autumn submissions to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) highlighted how the divide between the use of DRM versus HD Radio mirrored a larger debate over the use of open standard vs proprietary technology. DRM is an open standard, it is noted by the Hindu Business, and experts, like Professor V Sridhar from the International Institute of Information Technology in Bangalore, quoted in the article, is of the opinion that “in India open standards usually won over proprietorial technologies.”

Research into the two technologies – the In Band On Channel (IBOC) or HD Radio system and the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) system – and comments by sector experts suggest that the divide may be part of a larger debate of using open standard vs proprietary technology, and beyond radio.

In September 2024, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) launched a consultation paper regarding the digital radio broadcast policy (for FM) and invited comments from stakeholders.

The paper listed different standards for digital radio broadcasting including the HD Radio system and DRM standard. Subsequent submissions indicated that there was a marked preference for a single digital radio technology though there was no consensus on which technology it should be. In many submissions the point was made that DRM is already deployed in India. For more information on the DRM submissions and some of the key arguments please go to: www.drm.org/drm-presents-strong-arguments-on-fm-digitisation-to-indian-regulator/.