Germany - Current situation - History
01.09.2007
Germany is among the leading European proponents of DAB Digital Radio with a large local and regional network. Development in Germany has been further stimulated by the results of the Regional Radio Conference 2006 (RRC ’06). This provides the opportunity, depending on the final decision of the relevant political institutions, to install further multiplexes and to increase transmitter power to achieve more efficient and reliable coverage. As a consequence, a nation-wide digital radio re-launch and marketing campaign is planned in 2008.
Germany was the first European country to launch a commercial DMB service which was available during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. On 30th May 2006 Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland (MFD) launched Watcha TV, the mobile television services using the DMB standard, in most large German cities. DMB offers viewers access to five television programme services ARD, ZDF, N24, Pro7/SAT1 and MTV. All of these television services, apart from ARD and ZDF, are available for a monthly fee of approximately €5.00 per month. Samsung and LG are providing the handsets for this service while Debitel, Mobilcom and Simply are the telecom operators providing the DMB service to viewers. The commercial DMB service is currently using L-band frequencies.