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This week, FM broadcasts in one area of Norway finally fall silent. The majority of radio stations move over to broadcast on DAB+, alongside online and DTV. But why bother with broadcast radio, people are asking, when streaming is all we need? Let’s do the maths.

Norway switches off its analogue FM radio networks in January 2017 in favor of terrestrial digital radio DAB+. On the 11th of January at 11.11 am the first switchover will take place in the province of Nordland as part of a ceremony in Bodø.

This week, FM broadcasts in one area of Norway finally fall silent. The majority of radio stations move over to broadcast on DAB+, alongside online and DTV. DAB+ is broadcast radio, just like FM. You need a new receiver, but it works exactly the same: broadcasting from a tower, being received on an antenna.

The days of FM radio are numbered, at least in Norway. Beginning later this week, Norway will begin switching off its FM radio network as it transitions to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB). It’s the first country to commit to such a change, though depending on how it goes, other countries may soon follow suit.

FM radio will stop being broadcasting in Norway by the end of 2017 as the government promotes digital radio. Digital radio offers better sound quality - an important feature in this mountainous country with many islands - and allows more frequencies to be accommodated so provides more choice for listeners.

The most listened to digital radio station in the Czech Republic, Czech Radio, is now available in new locations via a new multiplex. Czech Radio can now be heard in most locations across the Czech Republic, except for a few cities which will be upgraded to digital radio in the near future.

Australia's most successful commercial digital radio station is a supermarket radio station. According to the GfK DAB+ digital radio report, Coles Radio has 153,000 listeners. Coles is one of the largest supermarket chains in Australia, with around 100,000 employees and over 780 stores.

Ahead of the digital switchover in Norway Willi Steul presented a 5 point plan to make DAB+ even more successful in Germany. He noted how a DAB+ roadmap can lead to success only with reinforced cooperation between federal and state governments.

Norway will become the first country in the world this week to start turning off its FM radio network as the country moves to a digital-only broadcasting system. On January 11, the city of Bodø, in the northern county of Nordland, will be the first to have its signal shut off, with the rest of the nation's signal being closed down by the end of the year. The country has been split into six regions for the turn-off.

Norway is about to become the first country in the world to switch off FM. As far as national radio stations are concerned, it is converting completely to DAB. The switchover process starts this month and will continue, region by region, until the end of 2017.