On the 1st of August 2011 Germany launched broadcast digital radio services on a nationwide network using the DAB+ standard. Fourteen new stations from a football to rock, pop, classical, talk and Christian radio can now be heard across Germany. Both public and private stations are available on the nationwide network. It is hoped that due to the popularity of the services over the last six months a further nationwide network will be launched to include more commercial stations. 

The German Digital  Radio project office (Deutchsland Digital Radio) was created to co-ordinate the efforts of all stakeholders; the stations on the national multiplex, the regional public broadcasters (ARD) and Deutschland Radio (the national public station). Five Working Groups were created to guide all areas of digital radio development  and  rollout .  Areas covered include: Networks, Products, Marketing and Advertising, Traffic & Travel and Automotive.

The network operator, Media Broadcast, has 27 transmitters on-air in the first stage covering all major cities and autobahns (motorways) and plans for coverage of up to 99% in some areas are due by 2014.

Alongside the national network funding was also given to the regional public broadcasters in each of the Bundeslander in Germany to launch digital radio on DAB+. To date each Bunderslander has now started to roll out networks or to allocate licenses to broadcasters for services on networks.

An extensive marketing campaign in all media is being undertaken by broadcasters, manufacturers and retailers. This has been launched to inform the public and retail staff working in high street shops about the advantages of purchasing a digital radio. A digital radio education day was undertaken in January 2012 to inform retailers of the benefits of digital radio further initatives are planned throughout the year.

Germany’s public service financing committee, the KEF, provided funding to facilitate the roll out of national DAB+ digital radio in Germany.   The funds, which allowed public broadcaster Deutschland Radio, to build out a national digital radio network using DAB+ technology, were made available for the industry by the KEF.

27 transmitters covering the major towns, cities & motorways (autobahns) are now on-air in Germany.

Population coverage from the 1st August 2011 is approximately 40 million people with planned coverage reaching 99% of the population by 2014.

Coverage of each of the Bundeslander is also increasing as the regional public broadcasters go digital. Information on coverage of each of the regions is available from the regulators in each region.

In this country there is

• National multiplex: 1 Regular

National Digital Radio Multiplex

15 stations will be on air from 9 radio groups;

Deutschlandradio (Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Dradio Wissen)

REGIOCAST DIGITAL (90elf-Das Fußballradio, Sunshine live, Radio BOB!)

Die Neue Welle, (Absolut radio)

ERF (ERF radio, ERF pop)

Entspannungsradio (Lounge FM)

NRJ (ENERGY)o Klassik Radio (Klassikradio)

NWZ/FOM (kiss fm)o Radio Horeb (Radio Horeb)

Deutschlandradio and the commercial broadcasters on the nationwide multiplex have released the following list of audio and additional services:

Audio: 10 new live audio services (brands) with additional services. Deutschlandradio will broadcast 2 brands in DAB (MPEG‐ 1 Layer II), one digital only brand in DAB+ as well as one special brand/channel. A separate data channel will be also an available on the national multiplex.

Data: Dynamic Label (DLS), Dynamic Label Plus (DLS+), TMC (TPEG), EPG, Jornaline, SLS, MPEG Surround Sound other services being considered are Broadcast Website, RadioVis & File collecto

Media Broadcast will retain space on the multiplex for data services

Regional Multiplexes

The regional Public broadcasters in Germany are represented by the ARD group and Deutschlandradio. The ARD group is the association of regional public broadcasters consisting of nine affiliates providing radio through the 16 German states ("Länder").

Deutschlandradio is the national public radio broadcaster in Germany with three radio brands.The public broadcasters have launched or will be re-launching their regional digital radio networks in the next six to nine months. 

Broadcasters & Stations: There are nine regional public broadcasters in Germany represented by ARD: NDR, WDR, BR, SWR, Radio Bremmen, HR, RBB, SR & MDR. Audio bitrates will differ in the regional muxes. Exact bitrates are not yet specified.

Audio & Data: The ARD and its members have released the following list of stations and additional services to go on-air: Audio; 60 FM licenses are split amongst the nine regional public broadcasters, German regulation does not allow for more services to be assigned it is planned therefore that these 60 stations will be simulcast on regional digital muxes

Data: Public broadcasters have agreed that they will add value to their services using data services. Mandatory services include; Dynamic Label (DLS), Dynamic Label Plus (DLS+), TMC (TPEG), EPG, Jornaline, Slideshow (SLS) other services being considered are Broadcast Website (BWS), Catagorised Slideshow (SLS), MPEG Surround Sound and RadioTag & File collector

Network: Public broadcasters are currently negotiating the set up of regional multiplexes with the commercial broadcasters in their region. Mixed ensembles with MPEG1 L2 and DAB+ services are currently planned in some states. There will be different frequency allocations in each of the 16 states (Länder) due to media laws/authorities/etc. In some states two DAB ensembles will be operated in parallel. Service following from ‘DAB to DAB’ as well as ‘DAB to FM’ and vice versa is a crucial requirement

Receiver manufacturers have made the commitment to release the right products into the market at all price points

The release, by broadcasters, of the ‘Proposed List of Services On-Air’ document based on the WorldDMB Reciever Profiles document is ensuring that manufacturers have the correct functionality in their receivers for the marke

Licenses on the national multiplex were awarded on a beauty contest basis. Band III, 174-240MHz, the band reserved in GE-06, is the frequency on which digital radio services are on air in Germany.

In 2009 after extensive research, discussions and trials DAB+ was the standard chosen for the future of digital radio in Germany. A new Telecommunication Act is in discussion which includes a suggested analogue switch-off date in 2015.

No restrictions apply on spectrum or formats to be used - for example broadcasters may chose mixed multiplexs containing any part of the Eureka 147 standard –DAB, DAB+, DMB.

Public broadcasters receive funding for digital radio from a license fee - this funding is assigned by the KEF (the public broadcasters funding body).

Current funding has been awarded to the public broadcasters for the build out of the new DAB+ networks and promotions of digital radio for the next five years (2011-2015)

Spectrum is assigned on a regional basis by the Media Authorities of each of the 16 states (Länder). There are two types of licences in Germany ‘Telecommunication Licence & Media Licenses’ the first is awarded to the network operator to run the network the second assigns frequencies to broadcasters.