Sachin Pilot, Union minister of state for communications & IT, is confident that using broadband for education and entertainment services, and digitisation of the film and TV sector, is what lies ahead. He spoke to Priyanka Joshi on the sidelines of Ficci Frames 2011, held in Mumbai. Edited excerpts:
Which of the issues highlighted by the M&E (media and entertainment) industry at Ficci Frames 2011 will be on a fast track for the government?
Digitisation remains the critical factor that needs to be taken into account for the consumers in India. According to the KPMG report, the number of TV households in India would reach 156 million by 2015. Coupled with rising literacy levels and low print media penetration, India offers significant headroom for growth. I believe with digitisation, the Indian industry will finally have the incentives to invest and create, and that’s where we are tuned in.
How invested is the government in digitalising the M&E ecosystem in the next two years?
The biggest enabler we see will be television, expected to account for almost half of Indian M&E industry revenues, and more than twice the size of print. Even film studios saw greater adoption of digital prints over physical, and already digital music sales have surpassed that of physical unit sales. This shows the consumer has moved on to new media and it’s time to act. We need to bring in a regulatory push on digitisation, ongoing 3G (third-generation telecom services) rollouts, increasing mobile and broadband penetration, to nurture the market for digital distribution platforms.
You have emphasised on mobile and internet delivery models. How will the government work to control piracy that this new delivery mechanisam entails?
The Indian film and TV industry have immense potential and need a push to go out there and market itself to the world. While we do see our M&E industry becoming a multimedia hub, with cutting-edge technology, we are working with Ficci and industry bodies to curtail piracy levels. Piracy not only causes revenue losses but also takes away jobs.
Piracy also needs to be addressed by making sure that content is appropriately priced across these new media platforms and is available on all platforms that consumers may access.
Do you see broadband helping in taking digital entertainment to the masses, specially in the rural areas?
As signs of convergence of media, m-commerce and app economy become visible, broadband is the only way to deliver edutainment to the rural population. We hope with 3G and later LTE (long-term evolution, a fourth-generation technology), we would be able to multiply our penetration rates and bring content closer to the rural masses. The next billion internet users are waiting to be tapped.
WIth UID (the Unique Identification Authority project) covering the rural areas, it will get easier for the government to deploy educational, agricultural information and, of course, entertainment in villages and small cities where private braodcasters and content creators have not managed to reach.
