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France - Current situation - History

25.08.2015

Paris, Marseille and Nice have had access to digital terrestrial commercial radio (DAB+/DMB) services since June 20th 2014, as confirmed by the regulatory authority, the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA). A total of 102 radio stations are currently on air in Marseille, Nice and Paris and 20th June 2014 marked the technical start date for many of the operators and stations in these cities.

DAB+ is now part of the multiplex allocation in France. The original CSA publication chose T-DMB as the digital radio 
standard allowing for each radio station 104/1000 of a multiplex. Today T-DMB is still a possible technology for Radio 
Numerique Terrestre (RNT) in France however with DAB+ each radio station has 76/1000 of a multiplex. Note that only one radio is still broadcasting in T-DMB.

In January 2015 the CSA published a report outlining its support for digital radio.  The CSA’s report includes plans to issue licences in several new cities, such as Lyon, Nantes, Strasbourg and Lille in 2015.

In June 2015 the CSA launched a public consultation related to the choice of deployment of DAB+ in the metropolitan areas of France.  Areas under consideration are Nantes, Lyon, Strasbourg, Lille, Bethune-Douai-Lens, Valenciennes, Mulhouse, Metz, Nancy, Bayonne, Le Havre, Brest, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Toulouse Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier and Toulon Rouen. Call for application should start as soon as October 2015 with the objective to broadcast in these additional cities in late 2016.

Trial services have been on air in Lyon and Nantes for several years. 13 stations are on air in Nantes, and 20 in Lyon. Lyon started broadcasting on a trial licence in April 2011. An additional trial is taking place in Rambouillet with the stated objective to test digital radio in mobility, including a TPEG service. A TPEG trial is also on air in Paris.

11.02.2015

Paris, Marseille and Nice have had access to digital terrestrial commercial radio (DAB+/DMB) services since June 20th 2014, as confirmed by the regulatory authority, the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA). A total of 69 radio stations are currently on air in Marseille and Paris and 20th June marked the technical start date for many of the operators and stations in these cities. Broadcasters assigned to a multiplex have one month to begin broadcasting, under the rules set by the CSA.

DAB+ is now part of the multiplex allocation in France. The original CSA publication chose T-DMB as the digital radio
standard allowing for each radio station 104/1000 of a multiplex. Today T-DMB is still a possible technology for Radio
Numerique Terrestre (RNT) in France however with DAB+ each radio station has 76/1000 of a multiplex.

Trial services have been on air in Lyon and Nantes for several years. 13 stations are on air in Nantes, and 20 in Lyon. Lyon started broadcasting on a trial licence in April 2011. An additional trial is taking place in Rambouillet with the stated objective to test digital radio in mobility, including a TPEG service.

13.12.2013

Key points

In January 2012 it was reported by the French newspaper ‘Les Echos’ that the CSA had requested the Ministry of Industry to include DAB+ in the technical standard for France. The consultation for this closed in May 2012 and the technical decree was released 16 August 2013, including DAB+ to the list of permitted standards. At the end of 2007, France’s Government announced that the official standard for digital radio in France would be DMB-A, to be marketed as Radio Numérique Terrestre (RNT).

At the end of 2013, the French Parliament will examine an update of the 1986 law about radio and television. Then the CSA should publish a timetable for a call for applications for tenders for digital terrestrial licenses for France’s next 20 biggest cities which will add up to 62% coverage. An additional tender will also allow to add DAB+ services to the 14 multiplexes in Paris, Marseille and Nice, as well as five more multiplexes in these towns.

In April 2012 the CSA re-launched a call of tender for three cities (Paris for seven multiplexes, Marseille and Nice for six multiplexes each). The four main commercial radio groups decided do not bid and the government did not allow the public service (Radio France) to pre-empt frequencies. At the beginning of October 2012 the CSA published the candidates selected for the three cities. At the beginning of 2014, six multiplexes will be on air in Paris, four in Marseille and four in Nice.

Roll out of terrestrial digital radio was scheduled to start in December 2009 but was postponed amid opposition from several sources, including private radio operators. The Prime Minister commissioned a further report by David Kessler, former chief executive France Culture, which was published in mid-2011 and suggested that the conditions had not been met for the full scale deployment of digital radio in France. The report suggested a moratorium of two to three years during which time the French market would look at
the deployment of digital radio in the rest of Europe. The report also stated that the government approved the CSA’s decision to allow further trials to continue.

The CSA is responsible for taking the findings of the Kessler report forward and in order to do this set up an ‘Observatory’ which includes all of the industry players. The publication of the Kessler report meant the market could move forward after a period of stagnation and to this end various trials were put on-air (Paris, Nantes, Marseille and Lyon).