The collaboration will focus on developing India-specific standards, advancing broadcast technologies, and strengthening the country’s role in global telecom standardization.
The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), the technical arm of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) to jointly advance research, standardization, and innovation in India’s telecom and broadcasting sectors.
The partnership aims to strengthen the country’s capabilities in convergence and broadcasting technologies while supporting the government’s Digital India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. Under the agreement, the two organisations will collaborate on technical studies, develop India-specific standards and testing frameworks, and contribute to international standards development.
Key focus areas include Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) services, 5G Broadcast, Digital Rights Management (DRM) for IPTV and other content distribution platforms, Digital Sound Broadcasting (DSB), and Conditional Access Systems (CAS) along with Subscriber Management Systems (SMS) used by television service providers.
The collaboration will also explore next-generation broadcasting technologies such as Further evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (FeMBMS), AI-enabled features for integrated broadband cable networks, multimedia services, digital accessibility, and intelligent user interfaces for broadcasting applications. In addition, TEC and BECIL will provide technical inputs on matters referred by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), DoT, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
The MoU was signed in New Delhi by Devendra Singh, Deputy Director General, TEC, and Ramit Lala, Deputy General Manager (Projects), BECIL, in the presence of Syed Tausif Abbas, Senior Deputy Director General and Head of TEC.
The partnership is also expected to strengthen India’s participation in global standardization forums, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T and ITU-R) and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). By combining their technical expertise, TEC and BECIL aim to accelerate the development of indigenous technologies and standards, helping build a more robust, self-reliant telecom and broadcasting ecosystem while enhancing India’s contribution to global communications standards.
