New Delhi: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has informed LokSabha on Thursday that the reach of FM Radio Network will expand to as much as 65% population of the country.
The Minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said that the government has taken a number of initiatives for expanding the FM radio network across the country and updated house that currently FM radio network are accessible to 52% of the population.
He also informed that the government is working towards expanding the reach of FM radio network from 52% to 65% population of the country through amplifying the utilisation of resources and sharing of existing capacities of public sector with Private operators.
The minister said in order to synergise efforts for multiple utilisation of resources and sharing of existing capacities and communication towers of the ministry of information and broadcasting and department of telecommunications, a committee of officers of both the ministries was formed in 2015 to ascertain technical feasibility and decide terms and conditions of infrastructure sharing.
Presently, 57 All India Radio towers are shared with private FM broadcasters on rental basis. In addition, 37 Doordarshan towers are also shared with private FM broadcasters on rental basis.
It may be noted that the Cabinet has recently approved further expansion of FM Phase three by initiating 3rd Batch of auctioning across India.
