As government mulls the rollout of digital radio broadcasting in 2025, industry stakeholders have raised concerns with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in the latest discussion held on January 8.
The discussion was around the consultation paper formulating ‘Digital Radio Broadcast Policy’ for private Radio broadcasters. TRAI released the paper on September 30 last year and has received 43 comments and 13 counter comments.
Multiple stakeholders including Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI), Reliance Broadcast Network Limited, MeitY, DRM Consortium and Entertainment Network India Limited among others shared their comments. Present during the discussion was Anil Kumar Lahoti, Chairman, TRAI and Atul Kumar Chaudhary, Secretary, TRAI.
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In the latest open house discussion, the stakeholders raised concern over increasing music royalties and urged single licensing for analog and digital radio.
Additionally, TRAI was requested for subsidies, minimum costs for hardware upgradation, a phased migration, and the usage of existing spectrum to also do digital in a simulcast mode.
Stakeholders suggested that in the absence of a robust digital ecosystem in the market, it will be challenging for the broadcasters to fully transition to the digital radio. Therefore, it was suggested, the industry operates in simulcast mode until digital radio technology is fully established.
Uday Chawla, Secretary General, Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI) highlighted that it is very important that the authorities should adopt very clear policies for the development of the receiver industry in the country. This is a great chance for the Indian radio industry to go forward to the next dimension.
He suggested digital radio receivers to be manufactured in India.
“Citizens will have very easy access to digital radio receivers because of the tax structure and because of the cost structures that are prevalent,” he shared.
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The other factor would be to provide some tax incentives to the would-be digital radio broadcasters.
As the full migration of services takes place over the next two-three years, he also suggested TRAI that new digital radio broadcasters should also be given licenses, those who are not operating at present, but they want to join the digital radio streams.
“By the end of 2028, we should also be having first timers too as digital broadcasters.”
Demand For Subsidies
For faster digital adoption, Prashant Ramdas, Legal Head, Entertainment Network India Limited, recommended the Authority that hardware upgrade costs should be kept to a minimum for the radio broadcasters.
“We should adopt a technology requiring little to no extra investment in the existing hardware for transmission in case there is another upgrade cost.
Then there should be subsidies provided to the FM operators so that they are not burdened with higher costs for shifting to a digital transmission.”
Additionally, it should be a phased transition, not a one-shot migration, because we’ll have to pilot it out in a few cities and see how it works— especially for C and D category cities where reception is a key,” he said.
Demand For Varied Content
One cannot hope audiences to get on to the digital radio if stations would provide the same content as on analog/p.
Chawla of AROI suggested to have an entirely new content for digital radio, which is also based on for on new genres which have not been used by the private FM broadcasters so far.
At present, we have a lot of restrictions on the content. We are heavily dependent on music because we have been banned from sports and news and current affairs and the music cost is really high,” noted Ramdas.
Read more: News bulletins on private FM radio delayed; conflict over content regulation
Additionally, Ramdas said that adoption of radio receivers in the mobile phones would be the key thing. The current chipsets already have the capacity, but they have been disabled right now because of lack of consumer requirement.
But once the digital transmission is started, he believes the consumers will demand reception of digital transmission on mobile phones.
“It will incentivise them to create more content for the listeners. It will incentivise them to like afford make it more economically viable for them, and then it will eventually lead to the success of the technology,” he said.
Media specialist Sharad Sadhu further noted that there is a need for a general set of guidelines on the new content genres that digital radio operators should produce and provide.
For instance, the guidelines should contain content genres for music, family programs, children’s programs, drama, and stories.
Demand For No Separate Music License or Spectrum
Currently, the industry is stressed about not being able to afford separate digital licenses.
It has to be within the current license regime where they are allowed to use the existing spectrum to also do digital in a simulcast mode, suggested Ramashish Ray, CEO, Centre of Excellence, MeitY.
“…Digital does not mean multiple music licenses, it is not the same as internet radio,” he said.
Ramdas remarked that the industry is struggling with reaching to consensus with the big music labels on the licensing cost of music.
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“The statutory licensing rates have somewhat relieved our stress, but still, there are issues in getting content at the right cost and which is in in addition to the license fees and the other infrastructure costs.
The music royalties’ cost is skyrocketing and it it’s making already the FM transmissions less and less feasible. With the change in the digital broadcast technology, there should be a clarification issue that the same music content can be used on the new technology without any additional license fees for the music content. Only that will ensure that there is a proper migration of the programs,” said Ramdas.
Otherwise, no FM broadcasters will practically shift their transmission to a new media which is not covered under their existing music licenses, because that will straight away double their cost and it will straight away make the transmission non-feasible for them.
“Broadcasters should be allowed to broadcast the music content under the same licenses at no additional cost”
And lastly, he recommended Ministry of I&B to de-link the NOTEF (non-refundable one time entry fee) from the annual licence fee, which makes the annual licence fee only 4% of the gross revenues. This will help in incentivising the current FM operators.
Right now, the government has extended the 4% licence fee only to the new city for the new spectrums, which are getting auctioned right now, but not to the existing ones under the phase-three FM policy.
“…those benefits should be extended to the existing broadcasters as well, which will incentivise them to and make it more affordable for them to look at shifting to the new digital technology,” he concluded.
Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Chairman, DRM Consortium, highlighted that no transmitter receiver, car, mobile manufacturer will move on DRM FM until there is a very clear direction from the government.
“…when you are looking at migration, it has to be done in stages, with all the stakeholders and their issues— from copyright to simulcasting. There also should be one standard for one country. Introducing DRM is the most cost-effective as it is spectrum and energy efficient, and it offers coverage for the whole country,” she suggested.