NEW DELHI: Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), the technical arm of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), a Miniratna Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), to collaborate on joint studies, technical contributions and standardization activities in the areas of Convergence and Broadcasting technologies.

The collaboration aims to strengthen national capabilities in standardization and innovation in converged and broadcasting technologies while supporting national initiatives such as Digital India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

The partnership will focus on the development of India-specific standards and test frameworks, study of international standards, technical contributions to global standardization bodies, and exploration of emerging technology trends in convergence and broadcasting technologies.

The MoU was signed today by Devendra Singh, Deputy Director General, TEC and Ramit Lala, Deputy General Manager (Projects), BECIL in presence of Syed Tausif Abbas, Sr. DDG and Head, TEC at TEC, New Delhi.

This partnership creates a formal framework for TEC to work closely with BECIL to jointly undertake studies, technical contributions and research activities in advanced broadcasting and convergence technologies.

Key Areas of Collaboration:

Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) and 5G Broadcast: Joint studies and technical contributions in Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) and 5G Broadcast technologies.

Digital Rights Management (DRM): Joint studies and technical contributions in Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems for IPTV and other distribution platform service providers.

Digital Sound Broadcasting (DSB): Collaborative studies on Digital Sound Broadcasting technologies.

Conditional Access System (CAS) and Subscriber Management System (SMS): Joint studies and technical contributions in CAS & SMS for distributors of television channel.

Future Broadcast and Network Technologies: Exploration of future broadcast and network technologies including multimedia systems and services such as Further evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (FeMBMS), application accessibility for digital inclusion, human factors for intelligent user interfaces for broadcasting services, and AI-enabled enhanced functions over integrated broadband cable networks.

Need-based technical discussions on matters referred by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and TRAI, with the objective of providing expert inputs and recommendations.

The collaboration is expected to strengthen India's participation in international standardization activities through joint technical studies and contributions to global standards development organizations, including ITU-T, ITU-R and 3GPP. It will also support the development of India-specific standards and indigenous technological capabilities in convergence and broadcasting technologies, contributing to the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Digital India.