Converting India into digital television and radio mode by 2015 as proposed by the Planning Commission may not be possible, said A S Guin, president of Broadcast Engineering Society (BES) of India on Wednesday.
Talking to reporters after announcing three-day international expo on terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, Guin said, the analog and the digital mode may have to be run on a simulcast mode for 10 years before complete digitisation.
"We have to look into the entertainment needs of rural India. Switching off analog after 2015 may create problems. Therefore, we have suggested simulcast mode," he explained.
Meeting the 2015 deadline may also be difficult for public broadcaster like Prasar Bharati as huge government allocations would be required for the conversion.
"As the money may be allocated over a period of time, digitisation would have to be done in phased," a senior Doordarshan official said.
At the occasion, DD also announced that it would soon launch mobile television in the metros.
"The trial run with the help of Nokia is going on for a month now," said Pawan Gandhi, head of mobile television, Asia Pacific, of Nokia.
{{/usCountry}}"The trial run with the help of Nokia is going on for a month now," said Pawan Gandhi, head of mobile television, Asia Pacific, of Nokia.
{{/usCountry}}It would be available only on digital video broadcast handheld enabled phones, not launched in India so far, or through a encrypting device attached to the existing phones.
However, BES officials said the mobile television would be only of the many entertainment options that are available to the customers.
Email Chetan: chetan@hindustantimes.com.