India's Homegrown D2M Chip Overcomes Major Development Hurdles, Deployment Soon: Report

India took one step closer to revolutionising mobile broadcasting with the successful prototype and testing of its first locally developed Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) semiconductor chip. Although yet to be commercially rolled out, the chip was the star attraction at the WAVES 2025 technology conference in Mumbai, where business leaders concurred that it has now overcome key technical and development hurdles. The field is now open for roll-out in consumer products.

According to a report from ANI, Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, shed light on the country’s indigenous D2M chip developed by Saankhya Labs, and informed that key challenges for the device is being overcome and now the field is open for countrywide deployment. 

The chip, dubbed the SL3000, has been developed by Bengaluru-based tech firm Sankhya Labs, now owned by Tejas Networks, which is a part of the Tata Group. It was created in collaboration with IIT Kanpur and Prasar Bharati, India's public service broadcaster.

D2M technology enables mobile devices to receive live TV, educational material, and emergency notifications without requiring mobile data or internet access. It potentially revolutionises the way information is disseminated, particularly in countries with limited network coverage.

From Concept to Readiness

The SL3000 is intended to enable ATSC 3.0, an international standard for efficient broadcasting to mobile devices. The chipset tailored for India, aims to serve over a billion mobile users, including 350 million feature phone users. It is the result of the collaborative efforts of IIT Kanpur in architecture design and Prasar Bharati in addressing national broadcasting needs. The testing phase has concluded, and the integration with devices from Indian manufacturers Lava and HMD Global will commence this year. 

This chip falls under the overall ambitions of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), whose aim is to cut back on imports and create a domestic chip industry. Experts believe that the this chip has the potential to bridge India's digital gap, particularly in the countryside, by providing video lessons, news, and alerts without using mobile data or high-speed internet. It may also improve emergency communication in the case of natural disasters.

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