Samsung and Qualcomm oppose live TV broadcasting on cellphones

Samsung, Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Nokia have written to the Information & Broadcasting ministry to express their opposition to the use of live TV broadcasts on smartphones. They claimed that existing smartphones are incompatible with ATSC 3.0 technology, and that adding compatibility would drastically increase device costs. Concerns were also expressed about battery performance and cellular reception. 

"We do not find any merit in progressing discussion on the adoption of this," said the letter dated October 17. 

India is considering a policy to mandate equipping smartphones with hardware to receive live TV signals without the need for cellular networks. It has proposed use of so-called ATSC 3.0 technology popular in North America that allows precise geo-locating of TV signals and provides high picture quality. 

Companies however say their existing smartphones in India are not equipped to work with ATSC 3.0, and any efforts to add that compatibility will raise cost of each device by $30 as more components need to be added. Some fear their existing manufacturing plans can be hurt. The proposal is still under deliberation and could be changed, and there is no fixed timeline for implementation. 

Digital broadcast of TV channels on smartphones has seen limited adoption in countries such as South Korea and United States. It has not gained traction due to the lack of devices that support the technology. For India's government, the live TV broadcast features are a way to offload the congestion on telecom networks due to higher video consumption.