News

The electronic auction of the tender for the award of rights to use radio frequencies in the 174-230 MHz band has ended. The auctioned frequency blocks were divided among all eight participants of the tender. "I am pleased that we were able to complete the auction successfully, having satisfied all participating bidders and managed to allocate all the blocks on offer. Thus, nothing stands in the way of the further development of terrestrial digital radio broadcasting." said Marek Ebert, Chairman of the CTU Council. The tender sets out development criteria that should ensure not only the successful development of DAB broadcasting, but also the efficient use of the allocated radio frequencies. The national networks are to cover 50% of the population and motorways within 18 months, and 80% of the population and motorways within a further 12 months.

All eight participants in the auction of frequencies for DAB+ networks for commercial radio were successful and won frequencies for at least one multiplex. The two nationwide networks B and C were acquired by České Radiokomunikace (or its subsidiary Czech Digital Group) and RTI cz. The Czech Telecommunications Office (ČTÚ) succeeded in auctioning all 29 frequency sets, i.e. 27 regional multiplexes in addition to the two national networks.

After extensive planning work, Sunradio - Best international Music, based in the Bernese Oberland, is further expanding its terrestrial broadcasting area on DAB+. Sunradio has already been broadcasting in the Bernese Oberland in collaboration with network operator Digris since 2018. Now the Bernese Mittelland and large parts of the canton of Solothurn are being added, as the music station announces. "After careful financial considerations and detailed clarifications, we are taking this step for the next two years, 2024 and 2025. In mid-2025, we will then weigh up the options and analyse the situation again. However, the goal is clearly a longer-term DAB broadcast in this attractive transmission area," Sunradio operator Stefan Grünig is quoted as saying.

At the 1-24 session held on January 4, 2024, the Council for Electronic Media in Croatia opened the offers received on the Notice of Intent to Grant Concession No. 09/23 for the provision of digital radio media services (DAB+). Bids have been opened from: MUX 1 (Republic of Croatia) – bravo cbc d.o.o.; DD0 (part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar, Istarska, part of Lika-Senj County) – Radio tvornica jdoo; DF0 (Split-Dalmatia, part of Dubrovnik-Neretva) – Media consulting doo.

The Communications Regulator of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Regulatorna agencija za komunikacije/RAK) has published a public call for a licence to operate DAB+ "MULTIPLEKS 1". Applications must be submitted by 12 February 2024. In the call, the regulator sets out deadlines for the licensee: no more than nine months from the date of issuance of the licence, to start broadcasting DAB+; to achieve coverage of at least 50% of the population in BiH by a maximum 18 months; and to achieve coverage of at least 85% of the BiH population by a maximum 36 months. The coverage must be achieved with at least one transmitter in each of the nine digital regions.

December 2023 marked a major step forward in the roll-out of DAB+. Between October 2023 and the end of the year, 108 new transmitters were switched on. Residents of Chartres, Compiègne, Dole and Menton can now receive DAB+ radio stations in their homes for the first time. In other cities such as Lens, Strasbourg, Montbéliard, Clermont-Ferrand and Nice, new stations are being added to the DAB+ offering. Following the first phase of deployment of national antennas in DAB+ in October 2021, the listening areas are being extended and enriched. By March 2024, at the end of the second phase of deployment, 26 national radio stations will be available to more than 60% of the French population.

After several years of online radio, CMC radio is also available on the DAB+ platform with national coverage from 4 January. If your car has DAB+, you can enjoy the songs of Miša Kovač, Željko Bebek, Jelena Rozga, Mija Dimšić, Oliver Dragojević, Parni valjak and many others on your way through Croatia without losing the signal during driving through the tunnel, because the DAB+ platform represents the greatest progress in radio technology and, among other things, the reception of quality sound without any interference. "We are proud that you can listen to CMC radio throughout Croatia in better sound quality and completely free of charge for users. So turn on the hits you love and enjoy the best local music wherever you are in Croatia," said the executive director of CMC radio, Mario Kovač.

Olivier Cordier from Kiss FM West Coast shared fantastic photos of the Monaco Média Diffusion transmission site on Mont Agel. This same site was originally built for Télé-Monte-Carlo, but it now hosts the MMD DAB+ multiplex the station operates on. Kiss FM West Coast, along with a dozen other stations, uses the multiplex to broadcast to the French Riviera. The transmitter actually sits in French territory, but it operates on a frequency allocated to the Principality of Monaco. The self-supporting metal structure for the antenna is original from the 1950s, even though the DAB multiplex, the second established by MMD, launched in 2016.

Last year was marked by preparations for the full-fledged entry of commercial radio into DAB+ broadcasting. The long-awaited auction of frequencies for DAB+ networks was preceded by changes in media legislation requested by private operators. The CTU had expected to publish the results of the DAB+ auction before the end of 2023, but this did not happen because the auction part was longer than expected. At a meeting with journalists in mid-December, CRA representatives estimated that the outcome of the auction would not be known until January 2024.

FM-world asked editorial director Nicola Villani - what is Engine Radio? "A new multimedia project dedicated to those who love engines and motorsport, on two and four wheels. Those who involved me in this new adventure, some time ago, rightly pointed out to me that nothing of the kind existed in our country for us motorsport enthusiasts. So why not create a thematic radio station, linked precisely to a typically Italian passion?" From 1 January 2024 you will already find it on DAB+ in the most important cities in Italy: Milan (and Lombardy), Rome, Turin (and Piedmont), Florence (and Tuscany), Naples (and Campania). Over the next year, more and more widespread coverage is planned.