In phones where this feature is not included by default, efforts should be made to provide the service, according to the advisory issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). ET has seen a copy of the advisory.
The disabling of the feature also impacted the central government’s ability to disseminate real-time information, the ministry said in its advisory to mobile phone manufacturing companies’ associations, the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association as well as the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology.
It has asked the ICEA and MAIT to circulate this advisory among its members.
The advisory was issued after the IT ministry observed that there was a “drastic fall” with the FM tuners feature, which impacted the ability of the poor to get free FM radio services.
“The FM broadcast is a robust and reliable communication system. FM stations serve as important communication links between the local authorities and people in times of natural disasters,” the IT ministry advisory read.
FM technology is used to transmit superior-quality soundwaves over long distances. FM Radios usually operate in the 87.5 MHz to 108.5 MHz band. Since FM Radios operate in bands which have high bandwidth and low frequency, they are able to reach areas where even mobile connectivity is difficult.
