News

The French-speaker regulator in Belgium, CSA, has published the full list of French-speaking DAB+ stations that will be broadcasting in Brussels and the rest of the French-speaking part of Belgium. 17 DAB+ stations are already available to listeners in Wallonia, but almost 100 DAB+ stations are expected to broadcast on DAB+ in coming months.

Commercial radio will officially switch on DAB+ digital radio broadcasts in Canberra on Friday, July 19, providing digital quality sound and more station choice for listeners in the capital. All four commercial radio stations will broadcast in digital, alongside several commercial digital-only stations, with more new stations to launch in coming months.

Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the Hamburg-based public broadcaster, has announced the launch of a new DAB+ transmitter in Röbel. The transmitter will cover the regions of Meyenburg, Goldberg, Moltzow, Kratzeburg and Mirow, east of Hamburg.

A new company has launched to help make small scale DAB radio work for communities around the UK. Opendab will partner with community and commercial radio broadcasters to offer information and knowledge to those applying for an SSDAB licence. The start of the service has been timed to coincide with Parliament getting ready to pass SSDAB legislation ahead of Ofcom advertising licences.

A new DAB+ antenna system has been put in operation at the Scholzplatz transmitter in west Berlin. The new antenna is expected to provide improved reception for DAB+ receivers located within a 50 km radius of the transmission site.

The UK government has published a consultation regarding the implementation of the European Electronic Communications Code, confirming it will implement the Article 113, which requires Member States to mandate the installation of digital radio connectivity in all new car vehicles. In the longer term, the UK government will also consider extending this requirement to commercial vehicles and to mandate for the installation of digital connectivity in all domestic radios.

Digi B Network, Malta's DAB+ operator, will be upgrading its distribution network with the provisioning of new Liquid cooled transmitters. Liquid cooling allows the devices to operate at higher power whilst reducing the thermal stress. This increases the devices' lifetime and reliabity in the process, resulting in higher power leading to a substantial improvment in coverage.

Analogue transmitters in Switzerland may be deactivated as early as 2022, as the country is set to become the second country in Europe, after Norway, to switch off the FM in favour of DAB+ radio.

A number of new DAB+ radio stations are launching in Sweden as the development of digital radio in the Nordic countries continues. Swedish Radio operates a multiplex covering 42% of the population in the capital of Stockholm as well as in Södertälje, Uppsala, Gothenburg, Malmö and Luleå. Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) also has a multiplex in operation covering Stockholm, Uppsala, Gävle. This multiplex will be expanded in to Gothenburg and Malmö this year, at which point it will cover 43% of the population

Over 3.7 million people listen to DAB+ radio per day in Germany, according to the latest figures revealed by MA's audio market report.This marks the first time the report includes separate figures for DAB+ listening, highlighting yet again the growing popularity of DAB+ in Germany.