Saankhya Labs, IIT Kanpur Incubated Free Stream Technologies, and Sinclair Collaborate to Launch Affordable Direct-to-Mobile Phones

KANPUR: Saankhya Labs, a subsidiary of Tejas Networks, in partnership with Free Stream Technologies Pvt Ltd, incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, and Sinclair Inc., announced their collaboration to design and launch a range of affordable mobile phones with Direct-to-Mobile (D2M) broadcast capability. These devices will be powered by Saankhya’s Pruthvi-3 ATSC 3.0 chipsets, a significant milestone in India's semiconductor push and a boost for the Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance) initiative.

The partnership builds on Saankhya Labs’ pioneering work, including its development of Broadcast Radio Heads (BRH) for cellular networks and the world’s first D2M smartphone reference design, the Mark ONE. After over two years of successful trials and validation in Bengaluru, Delhi, and the United States, the collaboration is now moving towards consumer trials for multimedia delivery and datacasting. This milestone aligns with the Indian government's drive to enhance the country’s semiconductor and mobile device ecosystem.

Consumer trials will be conducted on a variety of D2M-enabled devices, including smartphones, USB dongle accessories, STB/Gateways, and low-cost feature phones. These trials will showcase interoperability with major mobile system-on-a-chip suppliers, whose market share collectively exceeds 70 percent.

Parag Naik, Founder and CEO of Saankhya Labs, expressed excitement over the progress, stating, "As India’s leading fabless chip company, Saankhya is thrilled to bring D2M technology closer to market. We are collaborating with several mobile device manufacturers to integrate our award-winning Software Defined Radio (SDR) chipsets into a wide range of devices. As a complete end-to-end supplier of D2M technology, we are poised to rapidly validate performance and prepare for launch."

Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair, highlighted the transformative potential of the new devices, particularly low-cost feature phones. "These phones will be the key driver for domestic demand in India, especially for over 300 million feature phone users who can upgrade to broadcast-enabled phones at minimal additional cost. We anticipate launching these devices for trials in early 2025, targeting both the Indian and global markets."

Sumeet Nindrajog, Director of Free Stream, emphasised the growing interest from leading mobile brands in D2M technology. “As India’s first Chips-to-Platform DeepTech startup, Free Stream is building an ecosystem to make D2M a reality, fulfilling Prime Minister Modi’s vision of India’s Techade.”