Norway is well ahead in the world

11.04.2014 - Norway Norway - Thailand Thailand


On Monday 7 April a delegation from Thailand’s radio and government visited NRK. They visited in order to see how things are done in the first country to officially announce that it will switch off FM. FM switch off could happen as early as 2017 as long as certain coverage and listening requirements are met. Thailand is also on the road to digitizing its radio industry and started on the process about a year ago. Thailand is hoping to sell digital licenses for digital radio as early as next year. A major factor for digitising its radio industry is to improve the quality of its radio offerings said Col. Dr. Natee Sukonrat, chairman of the independent body the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), created in 2012

‘People used to listen to a lot of radio in Thailand, but now listening is down, because of the poor quality offered on the FM network. We hope the transition to digital will make radio more popular again ‘says Natee.

Digital radio only option

The problem that Thailand is struggling with on the radio front is that there are an infinite amount of radio stations in the country. Anyone is able to currently broadcast services on air and therefore there are many thousands of small local radio stations. According to the authorities, these small stations are causing interference with the frequencies of the bigger radio stations broadcasting on the FM network. The problem can now be solved by all commercial and public radio stations moving onto a digital network, while local radio stations will continue to use the FM network.

‘The situation in Norway and Thailand are quite different. In Norway, digital radio is able to provide a better and more diverse offering with more channels. In Thailand people hardly listen to the analogue network, therefore through using digital radio we hope to solve the problems. If you want to listen to radio, digital radio is the only option ‘says Col. Dr. Natee to the Kampanje.

He said they are here to learn from Norway on how to solve the transition from analogue to digital radio.

‘Norway is the country in the world that is furthest ahead in this area, since it is the first country to talk about turning off their FM network. We will learn from their experience on the work of policy in this area ‘says Col. Dr. Natee.

Will run into problems

Jørn Erik Jensen is one of the Norwegian radio experts that the Thai delegation met in Oslo. He is the man who led the set-up of the world's first 24-hour DAB channel in 1995, NRK Always Classic, and now works as a consultant for the distribution department at NRK. Mr Jensen is also past President of WorldDMB and continues to sit on the WorldDMB Steering Board which develops and promotes the DAB/DAB+ digital radio standard. This is the chosen standard in Norway and the standard that Thailand has chosen to focus on. Mr Jensen is impressed with the progress of Thailand but is wary that they should not progress with digitization of its radio industry by following the process in the wrong order.

‘They may take three steps forward and will have to go one step back as sometimes they will be unable to predict the problems they will encounter. I think they have not seen all the issues that they will need to solve in practical terms. To introduce DAB in a country you need to work together as an industry and commercial and public broadcasters must be perfectly aligned. That is what has been so wonderful in Norway, P4 and NRK have been working together all the way, while in Denmark they have been in their respective camps and have not yet succeeded. If you don’t work together then the process slows down’ says Jensen to the Kampanje.

Sweden lost the move

Thailand is hoping to launch services in 2018. Do you think this is a bit optimistic?

‘They may succeed as NBTC is an independent body that does not require political backing. It means they can do whatever they want. We can also see that the commercial radio industry does not have services on the FM network as it does not work and they cannot get advertising revenue’ said Mr Jensen.

He is an optimist, but is also a little hesitant when it comes to the issue of Thailand’s digitisation.

‘It's going to be exciting to follow them closely but it is wise to be cautious. I am wary of being over optimistic because I have seen so many setbacks. In Sweden, for example, in line with us, they started in 1995 as well, but then they took a step back and questioned whether it was DAB which should be standard. They lost the momentum, and now they lag far behind us’, said Mr Jensen.

Freedom of the press with many channels

The political situation in Thailand has been uneasy since former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was deposed in a military coup in 2006. Nowadays it is his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra who governs the country, but many on her side fear that the political opponents will seize power. At worst, it could lead to civil war that many fear. Col. Dr. Natee however does not believe that the political turmoil will create problems for the digitisation of the radio networks in Thailand.

‘The situation has been like it is now for six to seven years. It does not affect our work digitising directly since we are an independent regulator’ said Col. Dr. Natee.

He believes that both the press and political diversity will be well taken care of in the new radio system.

‘Yes, the number of radio stations will guarantee freedom of the press. It will not be possible for any party to control all of them together. It has become common in Thailand that different media supports one or the other side in politics, but in the new digital system, this tradition will hopefully decrease. When we get a good licensing system this will hopefully not happen as one can invest too much in opening a radio or television station that you can utilise it to political ends. The more free TV and radio stations we get, the better it will be for the situation in Thailand’ said Col. Dr. Natee.

 

To read the article in Norwegian click here: http://www.kampanje.com/medier/article7287178.ece