Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. and ONE Media 3.0, LLC applauded the Telecom Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) for signing an agreement to enable adoption of ATSC standards for broadcast services on mobile devices in India.

As members of both standards organizations, Sinclair and ONE Media have actively supported co-operative efforts between TSDSI and ATSC on this agreement as well as detailed standards contributions and joint U.S. and Indian activities, a press release said.

Of particular significance, ATSC 3.0, the world’s first Internet-Protocol-based television broadcast standard, has many elements of convergence and compatibility with international telecom standards that have been recognized by this agreement as a strong candidate for direct-to-mobile broadcast for the billion strong mobile user base in India.

Developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, the ATSC 3.0 standard has been adopted in both the United States and the Republic of Korea. Unlike other digital terrestrial broadcast standards including the European DVB-T, Japanese/Brazilian ISDB-T, and Chinese DTMB platforms, it is purpose-built for the modern 5G telecom era of convergence with the ability to introduce new waveforms and features for rapidly evolving use cases.

“We’re delighted that leaders in broadcast and telecom standards are charting a way forward to break traditional walls between these verticals in the interest of creating the most cost-effective broadcast solution for massive cellularized deployment. Our investment in Saankhya Labs (www.saankhyalabs.com) for ATSC 3.0 silicon and infrastructure technologies is a clear testament of our confidence in India’s technological expertise and market influence,” said Christopher Ripley, Sinclair’s President and CEO in an official statement, adding, “Through adaptation by TSDSI, ATSC 3.0 also can be part of the 5G ecosystem for non-television data services.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Indian pubcaster Prasar Bharati CEO, Shashi Shekhar Vempati, tweeted: “Congratulations to TSDSI and ATSC on this milestone agreement. It is good to see Indian and Amercian Standards Bodies collaborating on Next generation Broadcast technology Standards.”