German legislation one step closer to mandating receivers with digital reception
The German Federal Cabinet has adopted the draft of a Fourth Act amending the Telecommunications Act to ensure that in the future, high-quality radio receivers may only be sold if they are capable of receiving standardized digital signals. Federal Minister of Economics, Brigitte Zypries: "With the amendment of the Telecommunications Act, we are making an important contribution to the digitalization of radio transmission. Broadcasters can thus increase their diversity and offer listeners a high quality product. It was important to us that the regulation is technologically neutral. We want to promote the digitalisation of the radio as a whole." When finally approved, this amendment will mandate that all radio receivers are capable of receiving digital content, for example DAB+ or internet radio. Since the equipment requirement refers only to devices which can display the program name, it is limited to higher-quality devices. In addition, only those devices that are predominantly designed for radio reception are included: mobile phones are excluded, but car radios are included. Subject to the legislative process, the amendment could become effective one year after adoption.
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