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Since 12 October, France Bleu, the local network of Radio France, can now be received on DAB+ by nearly 16 million inhabitants. Ditto for other radio stations in the group (France Inter, Franceinfo, France Culture, France Musique, FIP and Mouv’), thanks to 28 DAB+ transmitters going live.

Twenty-five new small-scale DAB multiplex licenses have now been awarded by media regulator Ofcom, completing its first round of licensing for the new technology. “The rollout of this innovative technology will give listeners across the United Kingdom an unprecedented choice of locally produced content — serving communities and audiences across the country in a way never seen before,” said Kevin Bakhurst, Ofcom’s group director of Broadcasting and Online Content. “The UK’s commercial and community radio industry continues to go from strength to strength.”

No fewer than 87 local radio stations have expressed interest in joining a DAB+ pilot project in Flanders, Belgium. West Flanders has the most interested parties, followed by East Flanders and Antwerp.

DAB+ stations whose programme feed is interrupted due to interference receive the programme terrestrially from another DAB+ station, convert it to a different frequency (channel) and broadcast it again with a short time delay. The programme that has been distributed in this way can now be received by other DAB+ stations and broadcast on a different frequency. In this way, comprehensive broadcasting coverage can be achieved even in the event of a disaster. Manufacturers of receivers and receiver chips, as well as the automotive industry, are invited to test their receivers with regard to re-broadcasting.

Based on its recent analysis of the North American connected car media market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Xperi with the 2021 North American Company of the Year Award. A leading service and software provider, Xperi® was commended for the strong culture of innovation it has cultivated in order to expand in the connected radio market. The company's recent collaborations with Japan's radiko and Germany's SWR have enabled it to combine metadata and content from Japan's and Germany's largest radio broadcasters.

After conducting a public tender procedure, the Croatian Network Regulatory Agency (HAKOM) issued a license for the management of a DAB+ digital radio network to Odasiljaci i Veze (OiV). The licence was issued for the period from 16 November 2021 to 31 December 2036.

A new digital radio campaign has launched on commercial radio as part of a Digital Radio UK initiative to help educate older radio audiences about platforms and content. The 3 x 40” radio spots focus on problem-solving ‘Digital Radio Conundrums’ with each representing one of the three common barriers that older listeners encounter in accessing digital radio content – downloading a station app, listening to radio on a smart speaker, and understanding DAB+.

The network operator towerCast has completed the roll out and launch of the new national DAB+ network, using multiplexer systems from Paneda. The new systems were put into operation October 12th. The system has been installed in towerCast's own datacenter, using the new Paneda template handling for VMware, enabling customers to install a complete DAB system by themselves in an easy way. Lars-Peder Lundgren, Marketing Director at Paneda says: “Now that France is starting up national DAB, it is of course very satisfying that Paneda has been chosen as a supplier for this prestigious order. This makes us proud and at the same time we are aware that it comes with a responsibility, and we are ready to handle such commitments”. Raphael Eyraud, President of towerCast says: “We show once again that we are a leading provider of total solutions for the broadcast industry, and we are proud to keep working with national digital radio for the French audience”.

The "Digital Radio for Schools" project was prepared by RTI cz s.r.o. in 2016 as part of the promotion of media literacy in the Czech Republic. Through lectures, presentations and listening to the latest DAB+ radio platform, the project introduces digital radio to the future generation in technical schools, secondary schools and universities. Within the framework of this project, several lectures have already taken place and a further lecture is planned for 18 October.

In a statement CSA President Roch-Olivier Maistre said: "The deployment of DAB+ in France has entered a new phase with the launch on 12 October 2021 of 25 national radio stations in Paris, Lyon and Marseille, integrating all the agglomerations located on this route. Today, digital radio is already a reality for 30% of the population and DAB+ receivers are present in all new passenger vehicles sold in France. In the coming weeks and months, there will be 465 radios stations available on DAB+ covering nearly 40% of the population. The deployment of DAB+ will continue and intensify in the coming months."