Telecom industry wants another technology evaluation of D2M broadcasting

The Indian telecom industry has asked the government to re-do technical evaluation of direct-to-mobile (D2M) broadcasting. This raises concerns that the process conducted earlier by Prasar Bharati excluded participation of telcos and device ecosystem players, among stakeholders.

 

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, has argued that absence of stakeholder participation, particularly telecom operators whose networks and spectrum resources are directly impacted by the technology, confines the scope of evaluation to only interference and device heating.

 

It excludes several critical aspects, including device certification requirements, electromagnetic field (EMF) compliance, regulatory and licensing implications, real-world usage scenarios, and readiness of the device and chipset ecosystem.

 

The industry body has also asked for undertaking a structured public consultation through the Department of Telecom (DoT) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), as well as developing standards and performance benchmarks, through an open consultative process led by state-owned Telecommunications Engineering Centre.

 

“D2M broadcasting has far-reaching implications for spectrum, networks, devices and consumer safety. Any national-level technical evaluation of such a technology must be transparent, inclusive and technology-neutral, with active participation of all affected stakeholders. COAI firmly believes that policy decisions of this magnitude must be grounded in comprehensive, technical assessments to safeguard network integrity, efficient spectrum use and long-term digital growth,” SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI, said in a statement Monday.

 

The industry body has called for, “re-conducting the technical evaluation with a comprehensive and stakeholder-finalised terms of reference, ensuring evaluation of all relevant D2M technology options in a technology-neutral manner, involvement of telecom operators, device manufacturers, chipset vendors, regulators and accredited laboratories across all stages of the evaluation process.”

Telecom players have claimed that D2M broadcasting has direct implications for spectrum bands identified for existing and future 5G use. The direct-to-mobile broadcast service technology can enable direct transmission of live TV channels on mobile phones without cellular connectivity.

 

The industry players have maintained their stand that any assessment undertaken without the active involvement of telecom service providers and relevant regulators risks overlooking coexistence challenges, interference risks and long-term spectrum planning considerations critical to India’s connectivity roadmap.

 

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) had in September 2025 directed a comprehensive technical evaluation of D2M be undertaken with clearly defined Terms of Reference (ToR), participation of all relevant stakeholders and inclusion of all parallel technology options.

 

According to the evaluation done in November 2025 by Prasar Bharati along with IIT Kanpur 2019, through Telecom Engineering Centre, refuted concerns regarding interference of direct-to-mobile (D2M) broadcast service with telecom services and heating of mobile devices while using D2M broadcast service, that were raised by some stakeholders.

 

COAI said that the telecom industry was taken by surprise by the subsequent publication of a technical test report conducted without the participation of telecom service providers, device ecosystem partners and without sharing the terms of reference used for this technical test with all stakeholders prior to the conduct of the tests.

 

A key concern raised by COAI is that the evaluation focused on only one technology standard, without assessing other comparable and globally relevant solutions such as cellular-based broadcast technologies. “The industry has consistently emphasised that any national-level assessment of D2M must be technology-neutral, allowing for a fair and objective comparison of all viable options on parameters such as coexistence with IMT/5G networks, scalability, device impact and long-term spectrum efficiency,” the industry body has said.