There is little value to allocating finer and finer 'bands' to particular
'uses' of radio. It displays the utter paucity of both knowledge and
imagination that permeates the 'license-raj' attitude of government servants
who imagine that some ethereal dispensation has given them powers not thought
of in the Constitution (in the person of the Supreme Court circa 1995).
Let's get principles straight: the band around 100MHz is a short range medium
for the purposes of either analogue or digital broadcasting (with the impending
advent of DAB, it becomes necessary to mention this at the outset). No matter
how much energy you pump in at the point of broadcast, your signal is just not
going to get very far, and that is plain and simple physics (I am aware that
some legislatures in the USA have ruled otherwise, one getting perilously close
to defining the value of pi as 3, but fortunately no Indian legislative body
has gone so far as to attempt to define physics by vote). From the perspective
of the nation, there is no value at all to further subdividing the band.
However, when one gets to the level of a single broadcasting area, which may be
as high as a circle of radius of 50 km or so (the definition applies to
reliable and robust broadcasting, stray signals can go much farther depending
on atmospheric conditions, but that can't be the basis for allocation), power
does matter, or crudely, size matters. A megawatt transmitter will drown out
signals from less powerful transmitters, in some cases even at completely
different frequencies, the same way a loudmouth politician can silence the
voice of reason. For this reason, radio engineers have long advocated that
physical areas dominated by powerful signal transmitters should be treated
different from other areas.
For very basic economical reasons, such powerful transmitters are usually found
in cities, because the audience that will purportedly pay for the station to
keep operating, by marching into stores and buying products and services heard
advertised on the radio is substantial enough in a city. In rural areas, such
economics don't work. The crunch comes for low-cost (typically, community)
stations in less rural areas, where a powerful commercial station may yet be
operating, especially in the outer reaches of major cities, where new satellite
urban communities are emerging. This is where some amount of sensitivity is
needed on the part of a regulator, but I have not heard of our regulator
displaying any such sensitivity as yet. Indeed, the overall situation is being
treated in such an atrocious manner that there is no need for sensitivity,
which suits some people just fine.
There is a very good reason to take the examples of foreign radio paradigms
with a pinch of salt - very few such nations have cities of the scale and
sprawl of the great (I use the word advisedly) cities of the emerging world.
Obviously, we have to work out our own equations with the realities of FM
technology, but as one who has suffered from the idiocy of ivory-tower thinking
(ten years down the line, regulation is still controlled directly from Delhi,
as though information flow from rural to urban India is already meaningful), I
think I am justified in saying that such thinking has yet to raise its pretty
little head.
We may well want to advocate such sensibility in the case of urban community
stations, but how many of them would pass the radio equivalent of a Turing test
in India?
Vickram
http://communicall.wordpress.com
http://vvcrishna.wordpress.com
>________________________________
> From: Dr Richie Rego SJ <richie...@yahoo.com>
>To: ram bhat <r...@maraa.in>
>Cc: Community Radio Forum CRF <crfin...@gmail.com>; CR Forum
><cr-india@sarai.net>
>Sent: Friday, 29 June 2012, 11:13
>Subject: Re: [cr-india] AIR demands more spectrum for setting up 385 new FM
>transmitters
>
>
>Ram,
>that is a good suggestion, good thought, timely one.
>
>If Community Radio movement is a part of government's development and
>empowerment agenda, CR should be allocated not just a certain number of
>frequencies, but a certain specturm.
>
>
>On second thought, I hope that specturm range would not be between 107.2-108
>MHz, nor be 87.5 to 88.2Mhz, which other players would scorn ! A slightly
>better, stronger & less-intrusion-free spectrum would probably strengthen the
>Government's agenda, if there is one!
>---
>Rev Dr Richard Rego SJ
>Director, Community Radio SARANG 107.8FM
>Assoc. Prof., MCMS
>Dept of Mass Communication
>St Aloysius College; P.B. 720
>Mangalore - 575003.
>www.richardrego.wordpress.com
>www.staloysiuscollege.wordpress.com
>www.sarang.org.in
>+919448546425 (pers.)
>0824-2449706. (Res)
>
>
>
>--- On Fri, 29/6/12, ram bhat <r...@maraa.in> wrote:
>
>
>>From: ram bhat <r...@maraa.in>
>>Subject: Re: [cr-india] AIR demands more spectrum for setting up 385 new FM
>>transmitters
>>To: "sajan venniyoor" <venniy...@gmail.com>
>>Cc: "CR India" <cr-india@sarai.net>
>>Date: Friday, 29 June, 2012, 3:08
>>
>>
>>It's interesting that there are three different systems of spectrum
>>allocation for three different sectors of FM
>>
>>
>>AIR - they seem to have 3 MHz reserved (100-103.7)
>>CR - Seems to be limited to 3 frequencies per license area/circle
>>Pvt FM - I think its one frequency per license area per entity? (not sure)
>>
>>
>>I don't think there is a standard on this, but perhaps we need to think
>>through whether we should be arguing for an allocation system in terms of
>>reserving the amount of spectrum, like AIR (say 5-7 MHz). Or are we better
>>off in terms of reserving the number of frequencies per license area/circle?
>>
>>Maybe worth doing some comparative studies on this point as well.
>>
>>
>>best,
>>Ram
>>
>>
>>
>>On Tue, Jun 26, 2012 at 9:34 PM, sajan venniyoor <venniy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>I don't get this. AIR owns a substantial chunk of the available FM
>>frequencies, 100 MHz to 103.7 MHz being exclusively reserved for the state
>>broadcaster. I can't do the math, but let's assume that some 7 - 8 FM
>>channels can be packed into that band at, say, 400 kHz channel separation.
>>So, unless AIR plans to set up all the 385 new FM transmitters in the same
>>place, ha ha, what exactly is the problem? AIR doesn't have 7 FM channels
>>even in a city like Delhi.
>>>
>>>
>>>Incidentally, private FM networks use the same frequency for all their
>>>stations, over 45 each in the case of Big FM (92.7 MHz) and Red FM (93.5
>>>MHz). So do most Community Radio stations, on 90.4 MHz., which is fine as
>>>long as you maintain a reasonable distance between two stations. Most AIR FM
>>>transmitters radiate 10 kW, but India is a pretty big country.
>>>
>>>
>>>I think AIR just hates to repeat a frequency. After having monopolized the
>>>spectrum for so long, it would be so déclassé.
>>>
>>>
>>>Sajan
>>>
>>>
>>>AIR gets under five MHz spectrum allocation for FM services
RadioandMusic.com | 25 Jun 2012
>>>
>>>NEW DELHI: All India Radio, which has a spectrum of just 4.7 MHz exclusively
>>>reserved for its FM services will need more spectrum for setting up 385 new
>>>FM transmitters in the country under the 12th Plan.
>>>
>>>Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources told Radioandmusic.com that
>>>only 100 to 103.7 was presently reserved exclusively for FM broadcasting
>>>services by AIR. The broadcaster would need the additional spectrum for
>>>increasing the FM coverage to 90 per cent population.
>>>
>>>At present, AIR FM reaches out to 41.43 per cent population and 29.18 per
>>>cent area. This is part of the total AIR coverage of 91.87 per cent area and
>>>99.19 per cent population. Even prior to the 12th plan scheme, FM
>>>transmitters of varying capacities are being installed in 224 more places
>>>throughout the country by AIR, apart from forty MW transmitters. This will
>>>take the coverage to 38.75 per cent area and 53.53 per cent population
>>>including villages and hamlets.
>>>
>>>In contracts, 103.7 - 108 MHz and 91.5 MHz to 95 MHz are exclusively
>>>reserved for expansion of the private sector FM services in the country.
>>>
>>>Sources said that while 87 to 91.5 MHz and 95 to 100 MHz are shared between
>>>Fixed/Mobile and FM broadcasting services, Fixed/Mobile Services have
>>>priority over FM broadcasting services.
>>>
>>>Meanwhile, 531-1602 kHz (Medium Frequency) is an exclusive band for radio
>>>broadcasting according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
>>>AIR gets allocation for Medium Wave radio services. Furthermore, 3-26 MHz
>>>(High Frequency) is an exclusive band for radio broadcasting according to
>>>the ITU and AIR gets allocation for Short Wave radio services.
>>>
>>>In addition, AIR is also using the INSAT satellites for linking/feeding of
>>>programmes to various stations in the country through S-Band: 2550-2590 MHz
>>>(Transponder S-1); 2590-2630 MHz ((Transponder S-2); and C-Band : 4105-4145
>>>MHz.
>>>
>>>The sources said the assessment of spectrum requirement for broadcasting and
>>>radio is done by Wireless Planning Coordination Wing (WPC) of the Department
>>>of Telecom through a Committee under the chairmanship of Wireless Advisor
>>>while drawing up of National Frequency Allocation Plan. The NFAP 2011 is the
>>>latest frequency allocation plan.
>>>
>>>
>>>http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/air-gets-under-five-mhz-spectrum-allocation-for-fm-services
>>>Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to
>>>www.crforum.in
>>>
>>
>>-----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>>
>>
>>Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to
>>www.crforum.in
>Join the Community Radio Forum. For membership details, please go to
>www.crforum.in
>
>
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