With the view to bring telecom and broadcasting policy makers together to discuss India’s way forward on the road to convergence of broadcast and 5G broadband, a conclave is been organised today by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) along with Prasar Bharati and Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India.

The theme of the conference is: ‘ Direct-to-Mobile & 5G Broadband – Convergence Roadmap for India’.

Taking to Twitter, IIT Kanpur’s Director Abhay Karandikar stated, “Conclave’s objective is to comprehensively look at the broadcast broadband convergence scenarios.”

He further highlighted that the conference aims to bring together technical, business and regulatory experts who will focus on the convergence issue from an Indian perspective to understand the country’s unique requirements and challenges, while reviewing trends in global standards development, NewsOnAIR reported Tuesday.

Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati, along with TRAI Chairman Dr P. D. Vaghela; Apurva Chandra, Secretary, MIB; A. K. Tiwari, Member, DoT; N G Subramaniam, Chairman, TSDSI; Pamela Kumar, DG TDSI will grace the event, apart from senior reps from corporate houses.

Speaking on organising the conference, Vempati tweeted: “First such forum bringing together Telecom and Broadcasting Policy Makers to firm up India’s way forward on the convergence between Broadcasting and 5g.”

In order to spur the Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) initiative in media and broadcasting, in 2021 Prasar Bharati had entered into a pact with IIT Kanpur to develop a next-generation broadcast solution for digital terrestrial broadcasting with emerging 5G standards.

Subsequent to the collaboration, three areas have been identified to be taken up under the aegis of the Center of Excellence —direct to mobile broadcasting and convergence with emerging 5G standards; AI and advanced algorithms for audio-visual media.

“While mobile networks in India are overburdened with video traffic, exacerbated by the post-COVID explosive growth of mobile & OTT streaming, broadcast offers an efficient solution by providing a high-quality audio/visual experience by saving scarce & expensive cellular spectrum,” Karandikar explained.