The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has said that it has issued a general advisory to mobile phone manufacturers that inbuilt FM radio receiver functions in handsets wherever installed shouldn’t be disabled as the radio broadcast medium is a natural ally in reaching out to people at times of natural calamities and disasters.

“MeitY has issued an advisory on 28.04.2023 regarding the ‘Inbuilt FM Radio receiver feature in mobile phones’, whereby it has been conveyed to the mobile phone manufacturers/brands that it should be ensured that wherever the mobile phone is equipped with an inbuilt FM radio receiver function or feature, that function or feature is not disabled or deactivated but is kept enabled/activated in the mobile phone.

“Further, it has been advised that if the FM radio receiver function or feature is not available in the mobile phones, it may be included,” Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar informed Rajya Sabha last Friday in response to a series of questions on in-build FM radio tuners/receivers in mobile handsets and natural disasters.

The FM radio is an important communication link between the authorities and people in remote areas during natural disasters in addition to other electronic means of communication inter-alia, including cellular communication using mobile phones and television broadcasting, the Minister stated.

“The coverage of All India Radio FM transmitters in the country is 59 percent by geographical area and 68 percent by population. Whereas, as informed by industry, mobile phone network has a geographical area coverage of approx. 95 percent and a population coverage of approx. 98 percent,” Chandrasekhar explained.

Meity was asked to hold forth on the usage of FM radio to communicate with people in remote areas during natural disasters and whether FM radios, which have high bandwidth and low frequency, are good communication links to reach areas where mobile connectivity is difficult and whether disabling of FM radio features in phones or where this feature is not included by default will impact communication links during natural disasters, including the steps being taken by the government to neutralise such disablement.