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Throughout 2023, TDF's teams largely continued their work on deploying DAB+ digital radio in mainland France. In all, 100 DAB+ transmitters were brought into service at 70 TDF broadcasting sites in Occitanie, Lorraine, Limousin, Brittany, Anjou and the South-West, etc. TDF's operations are currently focused on the second phase of the roll-out of the two national coverage multiplexes (M1 and M2), each comprising thirteen radio stations. Since October, for these two multiplexes, TDF has started up 44 transmitters in accordance with the DAB+ rollout plan steered by ARCOM. Deployment of phase 2 will be completed towards the end of the first quarter of 2024.

Trigger FM began broadcasting via DAB+ in Saarland just under a year ago. The private radio station can now also be received terrestrially in the greater Hamburg area. The former ERF Jess slot in the multiplex for private broadcasters on channel 10D is being used. Trigger FM has thus secured capacity in the regional private radio multiplex in the Hanseatic city, on which it broadcasts with a radiation power of 10 kW. In Hamburg's second regional private radio multiplex on channel 12C, the broadcasting power is 4 kW.

To mark its 10th anniversary, maradio.be (which brings together the public and private radio sector) will be holding its next Digital Radio Day on 12 March 2024. maradio.be will be sharing the latest information on the digital transition of radio in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Belgium. maradio.be will be exclusively presenting the results of the 6th wave of the IPSOS/maRadio.be survey, and will be welcoming Bénédicte Linard, Minister for the Media of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, to discuss the Government's vision of the digital evolution of the radio medium. maradio.be will be giving an update on the development of Radioplayer worldwide, in the company of Yann Legarson, its director. Finally, maradio.be will welcome Jacqueline Bierhorst, President of WorldDAB, who will talk about her strategy and the development of DAB+ around the world.

Wirtualnemedia.pl speaks to Polish Radio's new editor-in-chief Paweł Majcher. Does the company want to spend as much on DAB+ digital broadcasting as in previous years? Will all stations broadcasting in this standard continue to operate? "I think that when it comes to costs, it does not matter whether we are talking about one or five stations. In general, DAB+ broadcasting is definitely cheaper than FM. The DAB+ project is good, it is developing. I am planning a meeting with the president of Emitel regarding the continuation of the project," Majcher says. "Commercial stations are reluctant to join this solution because they fear losing their existing revenues. They fear a change in the advertising market. However, we think it is inevitable."

Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) has further expanded its DAB+ network and switched on the Geigant transmitter (Waldmünchen-Sinzendorf). The Upper Palatinate Mux is broadcast on channel 6C and the Bavaria-wide ensemble on channel 11D, each with a power of 6.3 kW.

The consortium company Radio Digitale Veneto, a local DAB+ network operator that is part of the Aeranti-Corallo association system, has started experimenting with DAB+ broadcasting from the facility located in the municipality of Roncà, on Monte Calvarina, a ridge in the Lessini mountains, between the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. Radio Digitale Veneto operates on frequency 8C. With this activation, a further site is added to the many already activated by the consortium companies that are part of the Aeranti-Corallo association system.

Not only existing radio stations that can be tuned in on the FM band, but also completely new entities that have not been available via analogue broadcasting so far, are exploring the possibility of entering the DAB+ platform. Czech Radiokomunikace revealed some of the details of the planned network build-out at a meeting with journalists on Tuesday. "We are negotiating with existing radio players, but among the interested parties there are also completely new entities that are not currently active in FM broadcasting at all," Marcel Procházka, director of the legal and regulatory department of the ČRA, told the Digital Radio portal.

The first two of the eight successful participants in the auction of frequencies for digital terrestrial radio networks have received the frequency allocation decision from the Czech Telecommunications Office (ČTÚ). In total, there were six decisions for individual broadcasting networks. "Today I signed the first six decisions on frequency allocations for DAB networks for the first two of the successful participants in our DAB auction. More will follow. The CTU keeps its fingers crossed for all of them," said Marek Ebert, Chairman of the CTU Council, briefly on the social network X. This came less than three weeks after the results of the auction were published, in which all 29 networks, including two national networks, were auctioned.

Transmission operator Broadcast Partners has applied to operate the first nationwide commercial DAB+ network. The Terneuzen-based company will thus compete with Norkring Belgium, which currently holds the licence. Among others, Qmusic, Joe and Nostalgie broadcast via this network. In November, the Flemish Media Regulator (VRM) launched the distribution procedure for the 'DAB+ Flanders 1' network on channel 11A, whose licence expires on 21 June. As is already the case, the network will be issued according to the so-called 'operator model', where the licence holder gets to decide which radio stations broadcast on it, similar to MTVNL's network in the Netherlands.

Ensemble pour le DAB+ will be launching its first communication campaign on 29 January. It is being produced by the Bronx agency and implemented by the Medialist media and digital agency. This campaign is accompanied by the launch of a website to answer listeners' questions about DAB+: ensemblepourledabplus.fr. This site presents the DAB+ offer currently available and the roll-out schedule at both national and local level.