Luxembourg

Last update: 18.11.2024 - older versions

On 29 March 2023, Luxembourg's Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy Department published a roadmap to support the launch and roll-out of DAB+.

In a statement, the department said it "regularly analyzes the opportunity for a national deployment and considers that the time for the introduction of DAB+ in Luxembourg is NOW."

"The objectives are ambitious:

• Enrich the sound media offer in Luxembourg;
• Ensure quasi-national coverage in mobile reception (motorway networks and tunnels);
• Support access to digital radio broadcasting of local radio stations."

The roadmap presents the strategic vision, the legal aspects, the practical arrangements and the provisional timetable for the launch of DAB+.

The roadmap is available here.

In November 2024, following the public call for applications for the licence to operate DAB+ broadcasting and to set up and manage a 1st multiplex from 19 August 2024, the Minister responsible for Radiocommunications and Radio Spectrum Management has selected Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE) as the successful applicant.

The Service des médias, de la connectivité et de la politique numérique (SMC) is currently finalising, in close collaboration with the Autorité luxembourgeoise de l'audiovisuel (ALIA), the public call for applications for the granting of licences for sound radio services to be broadcast on the first digital multiplex.

The operator's licence will be awarded after the close of the call for applications for radio services. In accordance with the operator's specifications, DAB+ broadcasting will begin at the three main transmission sites no later than six months after the date on which the licence is awarded, and the network must be completed no later than eighteen months after the date on which the licence is awarded.

At the same time, SMC is working on the concept for the second digital multiplex for local radio stations. In this context, the Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister, responsible for Media and Connectivity, Elisabeth Margue, met representatives of the Daachverband Lëtzebuerger Lokalradioën (DLLR) on 12 November 2024. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the specific needs of local radio stations and the practical arrangements for their transition to the digital multiplex.

Roadmap procedure and schedule

"The deployment phase should start from the adoption of the bill, that is to say in principle at the end of 2023 or during the first quarter of 2024 and is expected to last three years. This launch period will allow in particular the detection of any technical difficulties on the ground and to specify the needs for improvement in terms of quality of retransmission of the signal and coverage on the national territory, including on the road network.

During this deployment phase, a first digital multiplex with national coverage will be launched.

The tunnels of the motorway network are equipped with a system of relay transmitters for the reception of FM radios. Such a system will also be set up for DAB+ transmission. Preparations are currently underway to equip the first tunnels with such a system in 2023.

 In consultation with ALIA and with the federation of local radio stations, the Dachverband der Luxemburger Lokalradios, hereinafter the “DLLR”, a specific solution for local radio stations will also be developed.

The digital broadcasting of local radio stations on a second multiplex could thus complete the digital broadcasting landscape. With regard to the launch of such a second multiplex reserved for local radio stations, specific support adapted to the needs of local radio stations will be studied."