Soon, you can watch over 200 channels on phones without data. Here's how

Information and Broadcasting secretary Apurva Chandra, while addressing the inaugural session of FICCI Frames Fast Track 2022 in Mumbai on Tuesday, said with 5G coming, there is another opportunity for direct-to-mobile broadcast.

India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati, in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, has come up with a proof of concept where more than 200 channels can be watched on mobile phones without any data, using direct-to-mobile broadcast.

Information and Broadcasting secretary Apurva Chandra while addressing the inaugural session of FICCI Frames Fast Track 2022 in Mumbai on Tuesday said with 5G coming, there is another opportunity of direct-to-mobile broadcast.

He said that Indian citizens will soon be able to watch high-quality film and entertainment content on their mobile phones, with no data consumption however.

“In India we never think of data costs since data is much cheaper than in other countries. That gives a huge opportunity to media and entertainment industry," he said.

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The secretary expressed confidence that this change will happen within next three to four years. Explaining progress in this regard, he said "Prasar Bharati, in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, has come up with a proof-of-concept, where more than 200 channels can be watched and high-quality films can be watched on mobile phones, without consuming any data, using direct-to-mobile broadcast.”

He underlined the importance of Media and Entertainment Skills Council in creating more jobs in the sector. “Many people are now watching content on OTT platforms, but pace of content creation has increased, giving more jobs to more people. Media and Entertainment Skills Council has a big role to play in this, since skilling is the most important part in creating more jobs.”