The Hindu Business Line : `Digital broadcasting offers big scope for commercial marketing'

(From left) Mr James Yip, Chief Executive Officer, Mediacorp Radio Singapore Pte Ltd; Mr R. J. Venkatramanan, Chief Business and Product Development Oficer, Epigon; and Mr Jeff Astle, Asia-Pacific Advisor at a worksop in Bangalore on Monday. - - G.R.N. Somashekar

Bangalore , Feb. 13

THE World DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) Forum has come calling to enlist India into its fold by organising a workshop on the latest technologies and demonstrating its immense potential to expand commercial marketing through radio, mobile handsets and multimedia and personal media players.

Unveiling the technologies and its application possibilities, the DAB Forum hoped that India would catch up with its global peers in adopting the digital broadcasting system through enabling legislative and regulatory framework.

The World DAB Forum, a non-governmental organisation, has members spread across public and commercial broadcasters, receiver manufacturers, network operators and other companies, and is into propagating DAB as viable technology for commercial marketing success.Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Mr Jeff Astle, World DAB Adviser for Asia-Pacific, said once India chooses the technology, it would be able to adopt DAB across the country in two years. He said the All India Radio had undertaken engineering trials six years ago. However, he added, even with a significant technological explosion in the field, India could easily adapt itself to bring the benefits of digital broadcasting to the consumers at a reasonable price.

The technology is growing significantly in Singapore, China, Korea and Taiwan, Mr Astle said adding China would be using the technology for its Olympic Games in 2008.

Mr James Yip, World DAB Asia Committee Chairman, said with the commercial radio market booming after the issue of new FM licences and the country's radio advertising revenue likely to triple to $150 million by 2008, DAB is all set to be a revenue earner.