Bultoo Radio

Bultoo Radio is a unique mobile-based communication service which uses Bluetooth technology to exchange news of local issues and entertainment content in media dark zones. It was launched in 2015 in Chhattisgarh state of India by CGNet Swara, a citizen journalism platform, in collaboration with the state government. Bultoo radio aims to provide a common ground for Adivasi tribals and non-Adivasis to communicate and share content, ranging from recreational stories to problem messages, in their local languages. These stories are then converted to audio programmes and transmitted.

Etymology

In 2015, Shubhranshu Choudhary, the co-founder of CGNet Swara, a citizen journalism platform based in central India, noticed a group of Adivasi kids playing with their mobile phones in Barwani district, of Madhya Pradesh. When he enquired about their activity, one of them replied “We are doing Bultoo, sir.” Shubhranshu understood that the kids were transferring pictures and videos using Bluetooth on their phones. And this gave him the idea of starting Bultoo Radio – a radio programme that people receive on their phones via Bluetooth in their local language.

Out of the three types of access to communication technologies - handset with internet and mobile network access, handset with mobile signal but no internet access, and no access to mobile or internet signals; Bultoo radio taps into the third section of population that neither has a mobile handset nor internet signal.

How it works

The ‘Bultoo’ radio or ‘Voicebook’ programme began in 2015. It encouraged users to record local news on their telephones and approach trained citizen journalists in their localities to transfer content via Bluetooth despite no internet and phone connectivity. The news recorded by the users was first verified and then converted into audio programmes. These programmes were then uploaded to the CGNet Swara website, and could be downloaded by gram panchayats that had broadband facilities. A community media vendor downloaded them at the gram panchayat office and then went house to house to deliver ‘Bultoo’ radio to villagers’ phones. An improved interface was later launched in 2019, enabling the recordings to be easily shared via an app, Bultoo app.

An alternate way of transmission is approaching people in weekly markets, called haats. Bultoo Radio program is shared with at least one person from each village, who then shares it with the village residents once back in the village. An incentive in the form of mobile top ups per transfer is given to the person who has the bultoo app on his/her phone once s/he reaches the internet zone. When people listen to mobile radio programs over phone signal it is often very expensive as each second of mobile use costs but when it is transferred using Bluetooth the cost comes down drastically, so CGNet Swara is encouraging the use of Bultoo also in mobile signal areas to minimise costs.