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Change in Entertainment: Watching Movies and OTT Content Without Internet in India

Buffering and poor connection have ruined how people affected view most movies and series or even picture viewing. A revolutionary invention is not far off in the future that might allow a person to catch pretty much every conceivable movie, series, or show without interruption and most remarkably, without any sort of internet connection. This ambition is really becoming a reality in India, thanks to the collaboration between the Department of Telecommunications and the country public service broadcaster, Prasar Bharati. They are working on a technology called 'Direct to Mobile' (D2M), which promises to transfer multimedia content directly to your mobile device, just like FM radio does.

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Knowledge on D2M Technology

So, basically, what is D2M technology? It is fundamentally an FM radio technology wherein digital TV signals are directly received by mobile devices, that is, no satellites to broadcast for the mobile device, and also without the internet. The main aim of this technology is to continuously broadcast news and entertainment contents straight to consumers. Just like the old radio systems, the D2M set-up basically constitutes a transmitter-receiver, amplifier, demodulator, and speaker system. 

This process has an initiation where radio waves will transmit signals from a transmitter. After a signal has been captured, it is amplified to retrieve it and demodulated to separate the audio from the information, and finally into the speaker for conversion into sound waves. In D2M terms, it is not the audio but terrestrial digital television signals relayed and rendered as video without connecting to the Internet.

It Might Affect Consumers

By 2021, roughly about 750 million might have already been using smartphones in India, with the figure projected to increase to above 1 billion by 2026. With such a large user base, consumers are spending huge amounts of money on internet services currently, with an average range of about ₹400 to ₹500 a month. On the upside, the data usually comes in a very insignificant 2 Gbs per day, which appears not suitable for applying ff or making HD movies.

D2M may bring this whole scenario upside down. It could actually mean that instead of tampering with normal channels, D2M provides an alternative that is cheaper in all aspects above to access high-quality video viewing. Continuous video buffering can now be reduced significantly, while pleasure in terms of viewing can broaden the overall spectrum of digital contents.

Advantages for Internet Service providers

While it appears that this consideration is a threat rather than an opportunity for an internet service provider (ISP), most attempt to catch them within the project, as such towers will include all existing towers owned by ISPs so that they will remain a part of the entire broadcasting process as required by the D2M system. It includes not just monetary profits but also more efficient use of infrastructure since there were no installations of extra towers involved.

Benefits for Broadcaster

Broadcasters too gain much from D2M technology. It would allow them to carry a broad-range content, from entertainment to educational materials. Access to online education during the lockdown was quite impossible for most students. D2M can help easily broadcast educational content to millions of students who do not have reliable internet access. It is intended to close the educational gap.

Changes for the Advertisements Industry

The D2M is to bring about a change in the advertising industry as well. Just like radio, advertisements can be placed within broadcasts. Nielsen, AC Nielsen, and similar firms would be measuring audience engagement and fine-tuning placements of advertisements-as good as there is for visibility and revenue generation. With such a D2M phenomenon, advertisers would go home with more sales revenue and better-targeted campaigns.

Technological Progression and Economic Growth

D2M is expected to usher in a new economic order. The very first example would have to be UPI (Unified Payments Interface), where banking transactions were completely transformed in India by facilitating seamless fund transfers. Likewise, D2M can further develop new business opportunities and invigorate the economy through wider access to digital content and services.

Possible Hurdles and Areas of Concern

Much as the D2M technology has great potentials, it still has some challenges, one of which happens to be a similar signal degradation like that seen with FM radio and DTH services. Heavy rains or cloud cover could easily disturb such signals leading to breaks in content delivery. If at all it works along such lines, then the users would still face problems like buffering or connectivity issues which would erode the much-touted combined experience.

Issues arising due to Cost Efficiency

Besides that, the D2M cost efficiency would definitely be a consideration into the agenda. In fact, the country is moving toward the next generation of mobile telephony 5G networks promising to evolve into 6G. D2M will integrate with these syllables to take the nation closer to the digital world. Consumers will start having to take two subscriptions, that is D2M and data packs, in order to access the rest of the available content. This means that the whole point of having D2M would actually be canceled with the emergence of that requirement.

Increased internet traffic

Additionally, if D2M is incorporated into the system, it will again attract more users to the system to engage in D2M and normal internet services. This is likely to strain the current infrastructure and produce lower internet speeds for the remaining users of traditional services.

Futurities from Speculation

Such speculation touching the future of the D2M technology seems to obscure the long way extensive research might have paved before the government can announce this launch. Yes, drawbacks may include signal reliability and costs, but the complete vision is to open access to all forms of content to all users.

Community Engagement: 

What is your take? Do you think D2M technology, if developed successfully, would solve real-life problems for laymen or do its cost-benefit equations not really sync with modern content consumption standards? Tell us how you feel by leaving a comment below!

If this post had intellectual annuities to benefit you or if you are looking ahead to how it might fare as a technology-the future of D2M, remember to like and share. Keep the curious mind, learn, and continue growing!