huridocs-tech Community Internet Radio

Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
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## author     : fred@goa1.dot.net.in
## date       : 14.05.99
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This is from Arun Mehta in India.
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Community Internet Radio proposal

Introduction

The Indian government has been almost paranoid in its
control over the electronic media. While TV has enjoyed a
modicum of private enterprise via satellite broadcasting,
radio has almost totally remained in government hands. Some
loosening of the government hold is expected in the
forthcoming broadcasting bill, however, there are likely to
be stringent regulations relating to ownership and content.
Even after this bill comes into effect, NGOs will hardly be
able to afford to set up radio stations with substantial
reach.

A new avenue has opened up for community radio, delivered
via the Internet. Its advantages are global reach, low costs
for the broadcaster, and freedom from government regulation.
Its major disadvantage is that the listener needs access to
a computer connected to the Internet.

While the new Internet policy in India is expected to
trigger massive private sector investment in the Internet,
little of that money will flow towards rural areas in the
normal course. This is because the Internet so far has by
and large only been usable by people who know English, very
few of whom can be found in villages.Audio applications such
asInternet radio and telephony have the potential to change
that, as they do not require the ability to write, and are
equally accessible to people speaking any language. However,
for them to take off, they must be able to reach the masses,
which cannot happen as long as each listener is expected to
have a PC and a telephone. We propose to use the Internet
for radio in a manner that makes such broadcasts available
to the poor.

The technology of Internet Radio

Companies such as Real Networks (www.real.com) have
developed software that allows radio broadcasting via the
Internet.  Radio player software, which allows Internet
radio reception on any PC with a sound card, is available
free of cost.  For production and distribution of radio
programs, low-cost Real Audio server software has to be
installed on a computer connected to the Internet for the
duration of the broadcast. To listen to Internet radio, the
listener has simply to log onto the Internet and run the
Player software to connect to the Real Audio server. If the
software is properly set up, listening to Internet radio is
in some ways simpler than listening to a conventional radio.
Every week, over 145,000 hours of live sports, music, news
and entertainment are broadcast in this manner over the
Internet.

However, the size of the Internet user population is only a
small subset of the target population for a radio station.
For community radio, this is an unacceptable limitation. The
question therefore arises, as to how a radio broadcast
arriving at a computer connected to the Internet (which we
can call a relay station) could be propagated further.

Our proposed scheme

In our scheme, each village would contain a community
information center, containing a mutimedia PC connected to
the Internet, which, of course, could be used for many
different purposes that we are all familiar with. On this
community PC, a Real Audio or equivalent server could be
installed, which in effect would convert this PC into a
radio station, which people could use to tape and
disseminate audio content. There are at least two ways to
provide low-cost access to Internet radio broadcasts. In the
"dumb" approach, the output of the sound card on the
computer can be fed to an amplifier, and distributed over
ordinary copper wire to surrounding houses, each of which
only needs a loudspeaker.  In the "smart" model, audio
signals could be distributed from the community PC using
either twisted-pair telephone wires, or the coaxial cable
used by Cable TV operators. Installed in each house in the
village that wished to receive radio broadcasts, would be a
small Internet radio, consisting of a simple embedded
microcomputer, a loudspeaker, a microphone and a couple of
buttons for channel selection. While the dumb radio would
only allow the listener to listen to a single broadcast set
at the community center, the smart radio would allow choice,
as well as the ability to interact.

Such a smart device does not yet exist, but the technology
that it would be based on is well-known: basically, it would
be a stripped down computer, containing no keyboard, storage
devices or monitor. It should be possible to design such a
device such that in large quantities it can be made for $30
or possibly even much less - - in any case, the price of
such electronic hardware is constantly falling. Within a few
years, it should be possible to make similar wireless radios
at affordable prices as well.

The radio, of course, would not just be able to receive
audio content produced at the local community center -- via
the Internet, it could receive broadcasts from all over the
world.  Thus, each community would be able to set up its own
radio station with multiple channels, that people could
receive worldwide. The microphone in the smart Internet
radio could allow people to participate in talk shows and in
audio conferences, as well as reap the benefits of Internet
telephony. This would help people who have migrated from the
community to stay in touch with their families.

This model is similar to that of Cable TV (though orders of
magnitude cheaper) and thus may be called Cable Radio.  A
demonstration of this system and an assessment of the
associated costs and benefits would encourage Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) to take a closer look at rural
communities as potential clients, and to invest in the
additional hardware and software required to bring services
such as Internet radio to them. In addition, this would
encourage NGOs to make community radio part of their plans
for disseminating information pertaining to literacy, health
and other useful campaigns....

Arun Mehta,
B-69, Lajpat Nagar-I,
New Delhi-110024.

Phone 6841172, 6849103

http://www.cerfnet.com/~amehta

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