WorldDAB member focus - DIGIDIA

15.05.2020 - - DIGIDIA WorldDAB Member - France

by Rebecca Keene, Stakeholder Relations Manager, WorldDAB

Q&A with Pascal Olivier, CEO, DIGIDIA

What markets does your company support and what solutions do you provide?

DIGIDIA has emerged as one of the leading companies for digital radio transmission equipment with more than 350 digital radio systems deployed all over the world in three main technologies: DAB/DAB+, DRM30/DRM+ and Synchronous FM,

These three main technologies are all covered with a broad and complete product line including multiplexers, content servers, modulators, IP gateways, monitoring equipment, professional receivers, encoders, decoders and tunnel break-in products.

For DAB, the DIGIDIA main products are the FlexiDAB software suite for DAB/DAB+ professional head-end (including the EasySPY monitoring solution), the DAB-BI 2.0 product for DAB tunnel Break-in systems and the EasyDAB for the test of automotive products for instance.

Can you tell us about your most recent projects?

DAB+ is on air in France with DIGIDIA. TDF is now operating more than 8 FlexiDAB multiplexers with more than 50 encoders in five towns (Paris, Nice, Marseille, Nantes and Lille), Towercast uses one FlexiDAB multiplexer in Paris and the new multiplex operator LaCoopRadio is using 6 FlexiDAB multiplexers with 45 encoders on a cloud platform for Northern France and the region of Nantes. In the next two years the French regulator will distribute regional and national DAB+ licenses for 30 towns and two metropolitan multiplexers. All major towns and highways in France are planned to be covered with DAB+ in the next five years.

DIGIDIA also recently deployed DAB head-end systems in Saudi Arabia, Monaco, Uganda, Ukraine and DAB Tunnel Break-in systems in Norway and France.

What do your customers value most from your solutions?

Our strongest value is our capability to continuously improve and add new features to our products and systems.

Features added this year in FlexiDAB software suite include for instance the “Smart Audio Multiplier” and the “Smart EDI switch”.

This DAB/DAB+ software solution can be deployed on dedicated PCs or on virtual machines, using hardware supplied by us or by the customer. Our unique solution is very scalable – and allows us to provide basic systems for small networks and trials as well as sophisticated redundant architecture with high levels of security and reliability.

These features have impressed most of the main French broadcast infrastructure operators, who have selected DIGIDIA for the French DAB+ roll-out.

DIGIDIA moreover leads the way with its straightforward design for innovative, compact and flexible products. All products are IP based and contain the latest COFDM and Software Defined Radio technology on state-of-the-art PC and FPGA/DSP platforms.

What advice would you give someone considering deploying DAB?

DAB remains one of the best technologies for broadcasting radio for many reasons such as spectrum efficiency, associated or independent enhanced data features like EPG, Slideshow, TPEG etc.

Recent country side roll-out demonstrates that DAB is really a cost efficient solution for broadcasters. More and more affordably priced receivers are available on the market today with ever increasing coverage for listeners.

Moreover the regulation has never been so favourable with the European level decision for instance to have DAB as a mandatory feature for the production of new cars this year.

I have no doubt that this is the right time to accelerate again the deployment at a larger scale!