FreeStream Technologies, incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, along with Lava International and HMD Global, today announced plans to launch Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) enabled devices in India ahead of large-scale field trials. The announcement, made on the occasion of the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, marks a significant step toward the mass deployment of D2M technology, which uses terrestrial TV broadcast airwaves to broadcast live TV, video, audio, and text messages (multimedia content) of public and national importance—such as entertainment, sports, educational programming, and emergency alerts—directly to phones without the need for Wi-Fi or internet service.
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Devices Powered by Saankhya Labs' SL-3000 Chipset
The initiative aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of "Viksit Bharat" and supports the government's 'Make in India' and 'Design in India' missions, according to the official statement.
As previously announced, the upcoming low-cost feature phones, smartphones, and tablets will be powered by the SL-3000 D2M chipset developed by Saankhya Labs, now part of Tejas Networks. Tejas Networks has also developed the core network and infrastructure solutions required for D2M deployments, in collaboration with US-based Sinclair. Live network testing of the technology has been underway for several years through a partnership between Prasar Bharati, IIT Kanpur, and Tejas Networks, Sinclair said.
Partnerships with Tejas Networks and Sinclair
Sumeet Nindrajog, Director of Free Stream Technologies, said, "We are pleased that Lava and HMD are doing the groundwork to rapidly create a viable device ecosystem for a nationwide deployment roadmap. Their willingness to supply in scale is the best vote of confidence for the future success of D2M."
Lava International's Executive Director, Sanjeev Agarwal, said, "Our D2M featurephone design incorporates the modem and the apps in a clever way to maintain low cost, which is a hallmark of our devices."
Ravi Kunwar, CEO and VP (India and APAC) of HMD Global said, "We're excited to be a part of the D2M journey. This groundbreaking, first-of-its-kind platform worldwide enables our consumers to access a vast array of multimedia content."
Parag Naik, Executive Vice President at Tejas Networks and co-founder of Saankhya Labs, highlighted, "The phones are powered by Saankhya's award winning SL-3000 chipset, which is the foundational D2M enabler. We have also developed the Core Network platform that will enable delivery of targeted ads, CDN offload, educational content, emergency alerts and other apps that will empower the consumers furthering PM Modi's vision of a digitally empowered India."
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D2M to Transform Content Access for Millions
Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair, said, "The large-scale adoption of ATSC 3.0 in affordable mobile devices vindicates Sinclair’s forethought in leading US and global deployment of this broadcast standard as 'mobile first' and in investing in Made by India technology. To meet future 6G goals, we are spearheading the next release of the standard – 'Broadcast to Everything' (B2X) which will unleash next generation broadcast apps for numerous verticals."
The deployment of D2M technology is expected to revolutionise content access for millions of mobile users, particularly in regions with limited internet connectivity.
