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To mark its 10th anniversary, maradio.be (which brings together the public and private radio sector) will be holding its next Digital Radio Day on 12 March 2024. maradio.be will be sharing the latest information on the digital transition of radio in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Belgium. maradio.be will be exclusively presenting the results of the 6th wave of the IPSOS/maRadio.be survey, and will be welcoming Bénédicte Linard, Minister for the Media of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, to discuss the Government's vision of the digital evolution of the radio medium. maradio.be will be giving an update on the development of Radioplayer worldwide, in the company of Yann Legarson, its director. Finally, maradio.be will welcome Jacqueline Bierhorst, President of WorldDAB, who will talk about her strategy and the development of DAB+ around the world.

Wirtualnemedia.pl speaks to Polish Radio's new editor-in-chief Paweł Majcher. Does the company want to spend as much on DAB+ digital broadcasting as in previous years? Will all stations broadcasting in this standard continue to operate? "I think that when it comes to costs, it does not matter whether we are talking about one or five stations. In general, DAB+ broadcasting is definitely cheaper than FM. The DAB+ project is good, it is developing. I am planning a meeting with the president of Emitel regarding the continuation of the project," Majcher says. "Commercial stations are reluctant to join this solution because they fear losing their existing revenues. They fear a change in the advertising market. However, we think it is inevitable."

Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) has further expanded its DAB+ network and switched on the Geigant transmitter (Waldmünchen-Sinzendorf). The Upper Palatinate Mux is broadcast on channel 6C and the Bavaria-wide ensemble on channel 11D, each with a power of 6.3 kW.

The consortium company Radio Digitale Veneto, a local DAB+ network operator that is part of the Aeranti-Corallo association system, has started experimenting with DAB+ broadcasting from the facility located in the municipality of Roncà, on Monte Calvarina, a ridge in the Lessini mountains, between the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. Radio Digitale Veneto operates on frequency 8C. With this activation, a further site is added to the many already activated by the consortium companies that are part of the Aeranti-Corallo association system.

Not only existing radio stations that can be tuned in on the FM band, but also completely new entities that have not been available via analogue broadcasting so far, are exploring the possibility of entering the DAB+ platform. Czech Radiokomunikace revealed some of the details of the planned network build-out at a meeting with journalists on Tuesday. "We are negotiating with existing radio players, but among the interested parties there are also completely new entities that are not currently active in FM broadcasting at all," Marcel Procházka, director of the legal and regulatory department of the ČRA, told the Digital Radio portal.

The first two of the eight successful participants in the auction of frequencies for digital terrestrial radio networks have received the frequency allocation decision from the Czech Telecommunications Office (ČTÚ). In total, there were six decisions for individual broadcasting networks. "Today I signed the first six decisions on frequency allocations for DAB networks for the first two of the successful participants in our DAB auction. More will follow. The CTU keeps its fingers crossed for all of them," said Marek Ebert, Chairman of the CTU Council, briefly on the social network X. This came less than three weeks after the results of the auction were published, in which all 29 networks, including two national networks, were auctioned.

Transmission operator Broadcast Partners has applied to operate the first nationwide commercial DAB+ network. The Terneuzen-based company will thus compete with Norkring Belgium, which currently holds the licence. Among others, Qmusic, Joe and Nostalgie broadcast via this network. In November, the Flemish Media Regulator (VRM) launched the distribution procedure for the 'DAB+ Flanders 1' network on channel 11A, whose licence expires on 21 June. As is already the case, the network will be issued according to the so-called 'operator model', where the licence holder gets to decide which radio stations broadcast on it, similar to MTVNL's network in the Netherlands.

Ensemble pour le DAB+ will be launching its first communication campaign on 29 January. It is being produced by the Bronx agency and implemented by the Medialist media and digital agency. This campaign is accompanied by the launch of a website to answer listeners' questions about DAB+: ensemblepourledabplus.fr. This site presents the DAB+ offer currently available and the roll-out schedule at both national and local level.

The entire procedure for the assignment of rights to use frequencies for the terrestrial digital radio broadcasting service under the NAPF-DAB is in full swing. Here, in brief, is where we stand for the various catchment areas. On 9 November, MIMIT published the lists of the expressions of interest received for the first three catchment areas (no. 08 - Emilia Romagna; no. 11 - Marche - no. 20 - Sardinia). On the other hand, we are still waiting for the publication of the list relating to catchment area no. 12 - Lazio, whose applications (as for Emilia Romagna, Marche and Sardinia) were submitted by 4 August 2023.

Broadcasting giant České Radiokomunikace (owner of the Cordiant fund) is preparing for a third major investment - the construction of broadcasting networks for DAB+ digital radio - after two recently announced large acquisitions in the field of cloud and TV multiplexes. In a recent auction organised by the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTU), CRa bid CZK 26.35 million (€1m) for the nationwide broadcasting network B and CZK 3 million (€120k) for the regional networks R4, R15 and R23. The frequencies were allocated until 2040. The nationwide network will accommodate 15 to 17 digital radio services.