France - Current situation - History
01.10.2013
In January 2012 it was reported by the French newspaper ‘Les Echos’ that the CSA had requested the Ministry of Industry to include DAB+ in the technical standard for France. The consultation for this closed in May 2012 and the technical decree was released 16 August 2013, including DAB+ to the list of permitted standards. At the end of 2007, France’s Government announced that the official standard for digital radio in France would be DMB-A, to be marketed as Radio Numérique Terrestre (RNT).
At the end of 2013, the French Parliament will examine an update of the 1986 law about radio and television. Then the CSA should publish a timetable for a call for applications for tenders for digital terrestrial licenses for France’s next 20 biggest cities which will add up to 62% coverage. An additional tender will also allow to add DAB+ services to the 14 multiplexes in Paris, Marseille and Nice, as well as five more multiplexes in these towns.
In April 2012 the CSA re-launched a call of tender for three cities (Paris for seven multiplexes, Marseille and Nice for six multiplexes each). The four main commercial radio groups decided do not bid and the government did not allow the public service (Radio France) to pre-empt frequencies. At the beginning of October 2012 the CSA published the candidates selected for the three cities. At the beginning of 2014, six multiplexes will be on air in Paris, four in Marseille and four in Nice.
Roll out of terrestrial digital radio was scheduled to start in December 2009 but was postponed amid opposition from several sources, including private radio operators. The Prime Minister commissioned a further report by David Kessler, former chief executive France Culture, which was published in mid-2011 and suggested that the conditions had not been met for the full scale deployment of digital radio in France. The report suggested a moratorium of two to three years during which time the French market would look at
the deployment of digital radio in the rest of Europe. The report also stated that the government approved the CSA’s decision to allow further trials to continue.
The CSA is responsible for taking the findings of the Kessler report forward and in order to do this set up an ‘Observatory’ which includes all of the industry players. The publication of the Kessler report meant the market could move forward after a period of stagnation and to this end various trials were put on-air (Paris, Nantes, Marseille and Lyon).
08.03.2013
Over the years, France has experimented with all formats of the Eureka 147 family, DAB, DAB+ and DMB comparing the benefits of all parts of the standard. At the end of 2007, France’s Government announced that the official standard for digital radio in France would be DMB-A, to be marketed as Radio Numérique Terrestre (RNT).
Roll out of terrestrial digital radio was scheduled to start in December 2009 but was postponed amid opposition from several sources, including private radio operators. The Prime Minister commissioned a further report by David Kessler, former chief executive France Culture, which was published in mid-2011 and suggested that the conditions had not been met for the full scale deployment of digital radio in France. The report suggested a moratorium of two to three years during which time the French market would look at the deployment of digital radio in the rest of Europe. The report also stated that the government approved the CSA’s decision to allow further trials to continue.
The CSA is responsible for taking the findings of the Kessler report forward and in order to do this set up an ‘Observatory’ which includes all of the industry players. The publication of the Kessler report meant the market could move forward after a period of stagnation and to this end various trials were put on-air (Paris, Nantes, Marseille and Lyon).
In January 2012 it was reported by the French newspaper ‘Les Echos’ that the CSA had requested the Ministry of Industry to include DAB+ in the technical standard for France. The consultation for this closed in May 2012 and no further news has been released on whether this will go ahead.
The CSA published a timetable for a call for applications for tenders for digital terrestrial licenses for France’s next 20 biggest cities which will add up to 62% coverage. It is expected that services will be on-air for these licenses by the end of 2012.
In April 2012 the CSA re-launched a call of tender for 3 cities (Paris, Marseille and Nice). The four main commercial radio groups decided do not bid and the government did not allow the public service (Radio France) to pre-empt frequencies. At the beginning of October 2012 the CSA published the candidates selected for the three cities. DAB+ is in the process of being added to the list of permitted standards
30.11.2012
Over the years, France has experimented with all formats of the Eureka 147 family, DAB, DAB+ and DMB comparing the benefits of all parts of the standard. At the end of 2007, France’s regulator, the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) announced that the official standard for digital radio in France would be DMB-A, to be marketed as Radio Numérique Terrestre (RNT).
Roll out of terrestrial digital radio was scheduled to start in December 2009 but was postponed amid opposition from several sources, including private radio operators. The Prime Minister commissioned a further report by David Kessler, former chief executive of Radio France, which was published in mid-2011 and suggested that the conditions had not been met for the full scale deployment of digital radio in France. The report suggested a moratorium of two to three years during which time the French market would look at the deployment of digital radio in the rest of Europe. The report also stated that the government approved the CSA’s decision to allow further trials to continue.
The CSA is responsible for taking the findings of the Kessler report forward and in order to do this set up an ‘Observatory’ which includes all of the industry players. The publication of the Kessler report meant the market could move forward after a period of stagnation and to this end various trials were put onair (Nantes, Marseille and Lyon).
In January 2012 it was reported by the French newspaper ‘Les Echos’ that the CSA had requested the Ministry of Industry to include DAB+ in the technical standard for France. The consultation for this closed in May 2012 and no further news has been released on whether this will go ahead.
The CSA published a timetable for a call for applications for tenders for digital terrestrial licences (DAB+) for France’s next 20 biggest cities which will add up to 62% coverage. It is expected that services will be on-air for these licenses by the end of 2012.
The CSA have published the list of stations/services selected for digital radio in Paris, Marseille and Nice. Please visit http://imma.argoscdn1.com/radioactu/pdf/rnt_75_13_06.pdf to view the list.