France - Current situation - History
01.09.2007
In September 2006, the main French radio broadcasters, representing 95% of the radio audience, joined together to form the “Groupement pour la Radio Numérique” (GRN) to support the launch of digital radio through DMB and its MPEG 4 encoding. On the 1st February 2007 the French National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) adopted a law, which stated that the Eureka 147 Family of Standards was its chosen digital radio standard, with T-DMB as the preferred choice for digital radio. The Ministry of Industry confirmed this choice in March 2007. The French administration has released a project of decree, indicating that DMB is the standard that must be used in France for digital radio in Band III and L-band. The CSA, the French regulatory body, has created a working group on digital radio and has now authorised eight trials to take place in France for a duration of six months; six in DMB, one in DMB and DAB+ and one in DRM, after which calls for tenders should be launched in Autumn 2007 ready for a commercial launch in 2008.