India-oriented DRM virtual conference held

The Digital Radio Mondiale consortium conducted a virtual conference on Oct. 12 featuring “Key DRM stakeholders in India, and other parts of Asia and the world.”

Topics of discussion and news included “Indonesian government pronouncing DRM as the standard for Digital Radio Broadcasting in MW and FM bands, and in VHF Band III, China’s commitment to DRM and the recommendation for the automotive industry to include DRM AM receivers in cars, as well as the firm commitment to DRM in all bands and its rollout in Pakistan.”

Also examined was the recently announced “new DRM1000 module of CML Micro/Cambridge Consultants … its integration into new Gospell receivers” along with “developments announced by the Indian company, Inntot, and the global perspective brought by NXP.”

A release said, “The conclusion of the meeting was that the Indian government needs to take a clear decision on digitizing the FM bands. There was also the suggestion made to the government to add to the recent cellphone recommendation (to include FM) that of adding DRM and EWF [Emergency Warning Functionality] requirement.”

Participants, according to a release, were “40 key participants represented the automotive industry, public and private Indian broadcasters, chipset, module and receiver manufacturers from India, China, U.K. and Germany; other important decision-makers interested in the success of digital radio DRM in India…”