The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium has announced the creation of the first DRM Automotive Workgroup for India on November 25th during the second annual NXP India Cockpit and Infotainment Forum organized by NXP Semiconductors. NXP (www.nxp.com) is the number one in automotive infotainment systems and the global market leader for digital car radio solutions[1]. During this event, All India Radio presented recent optimizations of the national DRM coverage as well as upcoming, exclusive service offerings for their listeners on DRM.
Currently, on the Indian roads there are over 2.5 million cars (representing all the big automotive brands) fitted with DRM receivers at no extra cost to consumers.
The Forum was a high-power event including comprehensive presentations on the recent NXP milestones and future plans, as NXP is supplying inclusive and up-to-date infotainment solutions to the powerful automotive industry, the undisputed driver for radio consumption worldwide. NXP, a DRM Consortium member, continues to work hard on DRM firmware development (in the AM and FM bands).
In parallel, another DRM Consortium member, All India Radio (AIR), announced significant DRM improvements introduced very recently like: non-stop pure DRM transmissions with 3 services or programmes on one frequency in 4 key metros, more DRM transmitters for increased coverage, and more varied and exclusive audio programmes and Journaline content added, progress on national rollout of DRM's emergency warning functionality (EWF), and a programme information guide enabled by Journaline. This is doubled by the enhanced visibility and communication about DRM promoted and encouraged by a newly created project unit within AIR dedicated to the promotion of DRM.
All the above initiatives underscore that All India Radio is fully committed to DRM digital radio for all of India. During the NXP Forum the automotive industry was thus strongly encouraged to support and help the transition to digital radio, by making DRM available in all car models, while supporting the full DRM feature set, and by promoting DRM to customers in cooperation with AIR.
NXP, AIR and the whole DRM Consortium are asking the Indian government for support to mandate DRM reception including EWF – Emergency Warning Functionality – in cars, in a similar way in which the EU has recommended that any car for rent or sale in the EU needs to have a radio receiver capable of receiving services provided via "digital terrestrial radio broadcasting" from 2021 onwards.
In order to strengthen the big role of the automotive industry in introducing DRM digital radio and making it part of the Indian successes and progress, the DRM Consortium announced during the Forum the creation of the Automotive DRM Workgroup for India. This industry body is accessible to all interested industry parties and enables an efficient two-way communication channel with AIR and India's government to ensure a smooth and successful DRM rollout. Those interested and requesting more details please write to: projectoffice@drm.org.
Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Chairman, said: "The support of big companies involved in the full DRM rollout in India is essential in persuading the government that digital radio in all Indian cars is a way of delivering essential services like information, emergency warning, localised content in the right language mix for the benefit of listeners and digital progress of India."
[1] Strategy Analytics, May 2020
