Bridging the Divide, Can Indian Direct to Mobile (D2M) Ambition Redefine Global Digital Inclusion?

Bridging the Divide, Can Indian Direct to Mobile (D2M) Ambition Redefine Global Digital Inclusion?

India stands at a precipice of a digital revolution, one that could potentially redefine its societal fabric and establish a new global benchmark for technological inclusivity. With over 1.15 billion mobile connections, the nation boasts a remarkable penetration of handheld devices. However, beneath this impressive statistic lies a stark digital chasm: a government report from December 2024 reveals that only 886 million Indians are active internet users. This leaves a staggering 260 million mobile users—a population larger than that of Brazil—stranded on the wrong side of the digital divide, unable to access the vast resources of the connected world. It is in this context of contrast—immense potential juxtaposed with persistent exclusion—that a quiet yet powerful technology is emerging: Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) broadcasting. The question, as posed by senior journalist Sanjay Sharma, is not whether India will adopt this technology, but whether it will have the vision and resolve to pioneer it for the world.

The D2M Paradigm: A Technical and Philosophical Shift

At its core, D2M technology is elegantly simple yet fundamentally game-changing. It leverages existing broadcast infrastructure, similar to that used for television signals, to transmit multimedia content—video, audio, data—directly to mobile phones. Crucially, this delivery does not require an active internet connection, a SIM card, or a data plan.

This represents a radical departure from the current content delivery model. Today, video and data are primarily distributed via Over-The-Top (OTT) apps like YouTube and Netflix or through telecom networks. This system relies on unicast technology, where data is sent individually to each user requesting it. If ten million people stream the same cricket match, the network must effectively deliver ten million separate data streams. This model places an enormous and inefficient strain on telecom infrastructure, leading to network congestion, variable video quality, and high costs for both providers and consumers.

D2M, as explained by Parag Naik of Tejas Networks, operates on a broadcast model. Much like a television tower broadcasting a signal that any compatible TV can receive, a D2M transmitter sends out a single data stream that can be simultaneously received by an unlimited number of compatible mobile devices within its coverage area. This one-to-many architecture is inherently more efficient for mass content delivery. It eliminates network congestion for popular content, drastically reduces the cost of delivery for service providers, and offers users a buffer-free experience without consuming a single byte of their cellular data.

The Indian Imperative: More Than a Convenience, A Necessity

For many developed nations, D2M might be viewed as a nice-to-have feature—a way to save data while watching live sports. For India, however, it is a potential lifeline. The country’s digital success story, often celebrated for its world-lowest data rates, obscures a harsh economic reality. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) notes the average Indian consumes 20 GB of data per month, predominantly for video. While the cost of 1 GB of data is a low ₹10-15, this remains prohibitively expensive for the millions of Indians earning less than ₹10,000 per month. For them, choosing between data and essentials is a daily calculation.

D2M technology shatters this economic barrier. As Eric Shin, a developer of the world’s first D2M-enabled feature phone, emphasized, it provides a lifeline to those who cannot afford expensive smartphones or recurring data plans. It promises to democratize access to information, transforming a basic feature phone into a portal for knowledge, entertainment, and critical services. This isn’t just about technological advancement; it is a powerful tool for social equity, capable of ensuring that a farmer in rural Bihar, a daily wage worker in Kolkata, and a student in a metropolitan college have equal access to the same foundational information.

The Expansive Ecosystem of D2M Applications

The potential of D2M extends far beyond merely streaming entertainment. Its applications could touch every facet of civic and economic life, creating a more informed, educated, and secure populace.

1. Emergency Broadcasting and Public Safety: In a country prone to natural disasters like cyclones, floods, and earthquakes, timely information saves lives. Current systems rely on SMS blasts, which can be delayed and suffer from network congestion during crises, or smartphone-based alerts, which bypass the 260 million without internet. D2M provides a failsafe channel. Critical alerts, evacuation routes, and safety instructions can be broadcast instantly and simultaneously to every single mobile device in an affected region, regardless of its data connectivity, ensuring no one is left uninformed.

2. Education and Skill Development (e-Education): The pandemic exposed the deep digital rift in India’s education system. D2M can serve as a national podium for distance learning. Educational boards like NCERT or states could broadcast curriculum-based lectures, digital textbooks, and skill-development tutorials directly to students’ phones. This would be a boon for remote areas with poor internet connectivity, enabling continuous learning without the need for expensive data downloads or high-speed bandwidth.

3. Agricultural Extension (e-Krishi): The farming community, the backbone of India’s economy, often struggles with access to timely and accurate information. D2M could revolutionize agricultural outreach. Government agencies could broadcast real-time mandi prices, weather forecasts, advisory alerts about pest attacks, and demonstrations of new farming techniques in local languages, empowering farmers to make better decisions and improve their yields.

4. Governance and Public Service Delivery: D2M offers a direct, unfiltered channel for government-to-citizen (G2C) communication. Public service announcements, information about welfare schemes, vaccination drive details, and awareness campaigns can be delivered directly to the populace, bypassing the algorithms of social media and the limitations of literacy. This ensures that vital information reaches its intended audience with certainty and clarity.

The Roadblocks: Why is Adoption Still Slow?

Despite its profound potential and successful trials, India has yet to implement D2M broadcasting at scale. The hesitation stems from a complex web of challenges:

• Regulatory and Policy Hurdles: A clear regulatory framework is absent. Key questions remain unanswered: Who will own and operate the broadcast infrastructure? Telecom operators (telcos) or broadcasters? Who will bear the capital expenditure? How will spectrum be allocated? The ultra-high frequency (UHF) band ideal for D2M is a scarce resource, and its allocation requires careful deliberation to avoid conflicts with existing services.

• Ecosystem Readiness and Industry Buy-in: For D2M to work, the entire mobile handset ecosystem needs to be on board. New phones must be manufactured with built-in D2M reception chipsets. Convincing handset manufacturers to add this hardware, which may marginally increase costs, requires a clear demand signal and a guaranteed rollout plan. Furthermore, telecom operators, who have invested billions in spectrum and infrastructure, may perceive D2M as a threat to their data revenue streams and could be resistant to a technology that bypasses their networks for content delivery.

• Content and Business Model: Who will create and fund the dedicated content for D2M channels? What is the sustainable business model? Will it be government-funded, advertiser-supported, or a hybrid? Creating compelling and relevant content for such a vast and diverse audience is a mammoth task in itself.

• Standardization and Interoperability: It is crucial to establish a uniform national standard to ensure that a phone bought in any part of the country can receive D2M signals from any broadcaster. This requires intense collaboration and standardization across the industry.

The Path Forward: Collaboration and Vision

The discussions at events like the BES EXPO 2025 are a positive start, but they must translate into actionable policy. The government must take a proactive role as a catalyst and regulator. This involves:

1. Formulating a Clear D2M Policy: Establishing a robust regulatory framework that defines spectrum allocation, infrastructure ownership, and licensing terms.

2. Fostering Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Encouraging collaboration between broadcasters, telcos, handset manufacturers, and content creators to build a sustainable ecosystem.

3. Driving Manufacturing Incentives: Providing incentives for handset makers to integrate D2M technology into new devices, especially in the affordable segment.

4. Piloting Large-Scale Use Cases: Launching ambitious pilot programs in sectors like education and emergency alerts to demonstrate the tangible public good of the technology.

Conclusion: To Lead, Not Just Follow

The D2M revolution presents India with a unique opportunity. It is a chance to leverage its scale and innovative spirit to solve a quintessentially Indian problem—the digital divide—and in doing so, create a template for the rest of the developing world. This is not merely about adopting a new technology; it is about asserting a new philosophy of digital inclusion where access to information is treated not as a commercial product, but as a fundamental right.

The world is watching. Will India merely be a market for this technology, or will it be its pioneer? The answer depends on whether its policymakers and industry leaders can look beyond short-term commercial interests and embrace a long-term vision of a truly connected, informed, and empowered India. The potential of D2M is not just in the signals it broadcasts, but in the opportunities it can unlock for millions. The time to tune in is now.

Q&A: Unpacking India’s Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) Revolution

Q1: How exactly does D2M technology work without using the internet?
A1: D2M uses broadcast television technology, not cellular data networks. It leverages unused spectrum bands in the ultra-high frequency (UHF) range—the same used for TV signals—to transmit data. A central tower broadcasts a signal over a wide area, and any mobile phone equipped with a special D2M receiver chip can pick up this signal, much like a radio picks up a station. This is a one-to-many system, meaning one broadcast can serve an unlimited number of phones simultaneously without requiring individual data connections, making it incredibly efficient for mass content delivery.

Q2: Won’t telecom companies (telcos) oppose D2M because it could reduce their data revenue?
A2: This is a significant challenge. Telcos have invested heavily in spectrum and infrastructure and may see D2M as a threat to their revenue from data packs. However, a counter-argument is that D2M can actually benefit telcos by offloading massive video traffic from their congested networks. This would free up bandwidth for other high-value services like video calls, online gaming, and IoT applications, improving overall network quality and customer experience. The ideal path is a collaborative model where telcos could become part of the D2M value chain, perhaps in infrastructure sharing or offering hybrid services.

Q3: What kind of phone do I need to access D2M services?
A3: Currently, you would need a mobile phone that has a built-in D2M reception chipset. As of now, very few such phones are available commercially, though prototypes (like the feature phone mentioned) exist. Widespread adoption requires handset manufacturers to integrate these chips into new devices. The government and industry would need to work together to drive this, potentially mandating the feature in new phones or providing incentives for manufacturers. The goal is to make D2M reception a standard feature, especially in budget and mid-range phones targeted at the next billion users.

Q4: Beyond video, what other types of data can be broadcast via D2M?
A4: The potential is vast. While video is a key application, D2M can broadcast any form of digital data. This includes:

• Audio: Radio broadcasts, podcasts, and music streams.

• Documents: PDFs of textbooks, government forms, or instructional manuals.

• Software Updates: Critical security or operating system updates for phones could be pushed via broadcast, saving enormous bandwidth.

• Real-Time Data: Live weather data, traffic updates, stock tickers, and emergency alert packets.

• App-like Content: Interactive content could be broadcast, with the phone storing it for later use, creating an “app without the internet” experience.

Q5: Is D2M secure? Could it be used to broadcast misinformation?
A5: This is a critical consideration. The broadcast nature of D2M means it is a one-way transmission, which makes it inherently less vulnerable to certain cyberattacks like hacking individual devices. However, the central control of the broadcast tower becomes a critical point of failure. If a bad actor gained control, they could broadcast misinformation at a massive scale. Therefore, a robust D2M system would require extremely high security protocols, encryption for certain services, and a stringent regulatory framework that clearly designates authorized broadcasters (e.g., Prasar Bharati, accredited educational bodies, government disaster agencies) to ensure the channel remains a trusted source of information.