I&B Ministry
For broadcast industry, question is who will head I&B ministry
MUMBAI: With the elections driving a stake through the NDA’s heart and taking the Congress off the life support system it had been on for several years now, attention will now be on who will be the next PM and of course who will hold the crucial portfolios of finance, industry, information and broadcasting, communications, energy and petroleum.
For the broadcasting, cable TV, advertising, print media and telecom sectors what will weigh heavily are the I&B and communications portfolios.One player that has a large stake in the convergence game has already started lobbying for the the communications ministry to take centre stage and positioning it as the more crucial of the two ministries. The player has for long been talking about a convergent India and has actually been suggesting that the two ministries be merged.
However, indiantelevision.com believes that the two ministries should be maintained as separate entities. Among the names being mentioned for the I&B ministership is former incumbent Jaipal Reddy (whose Broadcasting Bill is still gathering dust).
Another possibility is Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad who is another person with experience in the I&B ministry (he held the portfolio in eighties). Or the mantle might well fall on the firebrand Renuka Chowdhary.
If the Congress decides to opt for a face from the entertainment industry, there are a number of names that could figure. There is faded Hero Number 1 and “Virar ka Chokra” Govinda or former screen siren Jayaprada. There is of course the many time-MP and actor Sunil Dutt, which is a name that one broadcast industry head honcho suggested as a possible choice.
Of course all this must remain in the realm of speculation for the present.
But whoever does take up the I&B minister’s post, he /she will have a lot of unfinished business to deal with, the most vexing being the stalled rollout of conditional access in the country. Will it be scrapped (after all the Congress had opposed it) is a question that is of concern to the cable fraternity in particular.
With the Left having a major say in the new political dispensation, the fear among many in the industry is that the reforms process while not being jettisoned, will likely slow down.
What that might well mean is that demands for relaxation is foreign shareholding norms for news entities from the current 26 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) would not be entertained at least for the near term.
More direct issues will be those like content regulation and framing norms for downlinking that have been priority issues for the government in the recent past.
All this of course will follow after the I&B ministry has a head in place. The answer to that might take a few more days though.
I&B Ministry
Digital radio, D2M tech set to reshape broadcasting and public messaging
Govt pushes next-gen delivery while TRAI tightens grip on spam ecosystem
NEW DELHI: India’s broadcasting and telecom landscape is undergoing a quiet but significant upgrade, with digital radio and Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) technologies emerging as powerful tools for mass communication, while regulators step up efforts to tackle spam calls.
According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, digital radio and D2M are poised to transform how content reaches audiences by making more efficient use of spectrum. In simple terms, multiple channels can now be delivered over a single frequency, opening the door to a wider range of free-to-air content.
D2M technology takes this a step further by enabling video, audio and data to be broadcast directly to mobile handsets without relying on SIM cards or mobile data. The result is a resilient and cost-effective data pipe that can deliver everything from entertainment and education to critical emergency alerts, even in low-connectivity scenarios.
At the same time, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is tightening its grip on unsolicited commercial communication, better known as spam calls. The regulator has deployed a distributed ledger technology platform to bring transparency and accountability into the system.
Through this blockchain-based setup, consumers can register their preferences on receiving promotional messages, while businesses and telemarketers must also sign up and operate within defined rules. The platform also includes a complaint mechanism that allows users to report spam, with complaints shared across telecom operators for coordinated action.
The government’s broader push is being supported by infrastructure upgrades under the Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development scheme. Implemented through Prasar Bharati, the initiative focuses on modernising networks such as Akashvani and Doordarshan, including digitisation and adoption of next-generation broadcast equipment.
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan said these steps are part of a larger effort to promote emerging technologies and strengthen the country’s broadcasting backbone. The response came to a query raised by member of Parliament Rao Rajendra Singh.
Together, these developments point to a dual-track strategy: expanding access to reliable, low-cost content while cleaning up the communication ecosystem. As digital pipes get smarter and spam filters sharper, India’s airwaves may soon feel a lot less noisy and far more useful.
