Spectrum Reserve Prices For FM Radio In More Towns Soon

The government will come out with spectrum reserve prices for FM radio services in more tier-2 cities and tier-3 towns in the near future, R.S. Sharma, Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said here on Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, ‘Digital Radio Vision for India’, Sharma also said that the private sector should be permitted to provide digital radio broadcasting services. “We are in the near future coming out with spectrum reserve prices for FM radio in the other towns of the country… the towns which were left out, tier 2 and tier 3,” he said.

Reiterating the recommendations forwarded by the regulator to the government back in 2018, Sharma said the government should notify a policy framework for digital radio broadcasting in India.

“We want the government to notify the policy framework for digital radio broadcasting in india in a time bound manner with a clear roadmap for roll out of digital radio broadcasting services,” the TRAI Chairman said at the event organised by Xperi Corporation, India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA).

Speaking at the program, Ashruf El-Dinary, Vice President, Xperi Corporation said that the company is participating in the field trials for digital radio services in India.

“We are pleased to be participating in the digital radio field trials with All India Radio. Our ‘HD Radio’ technology enables innovative audio content and new data services across 2,400 radio stations world-wide. We support the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s vision to transition radio stations to digital operations and we look forward to be a part of the digital radio vision for India,” he said.

Pankaj Mohindroo, Chairman, ICEA was of the opinion that in 2020 digital radio technology would change the dynamics of radio.

“For advanced radio innovation to be fruitful we have to present this technology innovation first in the mobile division as it will be a broad communications utilisation,” Mohindroo said. Newsd