News

The annual WorldDAB General Assembly took place in cyberspace in November. Approximately 300 people joined to hear 35 speakers describe the state of DAB+ digital audio broadcasting around the planet.

A study conducted by the BBC revealed that DAB services have the lowest energy consumption per hour of listening in comparison with AM, FM and IP.

In the Netherlands, the application procedure for a new national commercial DAB+ network (Layer 7) starts on 19 January 2021. The new network is part of the large-scale redistribution of the DAB+ networks in the Netherlands that will take place in the coming years.

Ofcom has publisehd a copy of any small-scale radio multiplex licence application. Ofcom invites comments on the applications - the closing date for comments is 31 January 2021.

Parties wishing to acquire capacity on the new national commercial DAB+ network (layer 7) can submit theirapplication from 19 January 2021. A total of 12 permits are available.

The research, carried out by Luxembourg's Department of Media, Telecommunications and Digital Policy along with the Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), aimed to identify the various requirements needed to deploy DAB+ in Luxembourg. The findings of the research will now be analysed, and followed with a timeline for the rollout of DAB+ services in 2021.

The Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) said that members of the radio associations and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR have agreed to migrate to digital broadcasting via DAB+ in 2022 and 2023. The SRG SSR will decommission its FM transmitters in August 2022 to make it easier for commercial operators to switch over. The private radio stations will deactivate their FM transmitters in January 2023.

From today, people purchasing new passenger vehicles across Europe will be able to benefit from the advantages of digital radio – greater choice, clearer audio and enhanced data services.

The Swiss radio industry has agreed to switch from FM to DAB+ in 2022 and 2023. The members of the radio associations and SSR SRG have approved the procedure. According to this, public broadcaster SRG will switch off its FM stations in August 2022, followed by private radio stations by January 2023.

All 45 applications for the first 25 areas in the first round of the Small Scale DAB licence process are now online.