News

The radio station Topradio has collected over 100,000 euros through crowdfunding to continue broadcasting on DAB+. "National digital broadcasting via DAB+ will be ensured in the coming year 2018 and even part of 2019," Topradio reports.

The CSA has announced a new strategy to accelerate the deployment of DAB +, which is struggling for the moment to develop in the Hexagon. Three major calls for applications are now planned: the first two, in July 2018 and at the latest in July 2019, will each focus on "fifteen zones centered on agglomerations of more than 175,000 inhabitants" and with a small number of local areas. The third call, envisaged mid-2018 this time will concern frequencies at the national level. The less populated areas will be covered in a second phase, after 2020.

A gigantic successful crowdfunding campaign yielded no less than 100,160 euros so that the channel can provide digital broadcast on DAB+ next year. As a result, the station can certainly be broadcast on DAB+ in 2018 and part of 2019.

A petition has been launched on the Internet for the return of the children's station Efteling Kids Radio in DAB+. A number of listeners have started a petition to have the radio station return via DAB+. "We want Efteling kids radio back on DAB+," said petition organisers.

Italy’s RAI is deeming the expansion of DAB+ as more important after the government's decision, included in the 2018 budget, mandating that all FM receivers sold after Jan. 1, 2019, must also be able to receive DAB. The Flanders region of Belgium is going to speed up the digitization of radio. Minister of Media Sven Gatz will make additional capacity available on DAB + in 2018, according to radio.nl. The Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications released an additional DAB + frequency block, on Dec. 20, for the German, French and Italian language regions of Switzerland, reports schwiezmagazine.ch.

The CSA announced on Wednesday a new strategy to accelerate the deployment of DAB+. Following consultation, the CSA decided to revise the modalities and the schedule of calls for candidacy to allocate frequencies of radio diffusion in DAB+. Three major calls for applications are now planned: the first two, in July 2018 and at the latest in July 2019, will each focus on "fifteen zones centered on agglomerations of more than 175,000 inhabitants" and with a small number of local areas. The third call, envisaged mid-2018 this time will concern frequencies at the national level. The less populated areas will be covered in a second phase after 2020.

The DAB + is deployed in Paris, Marseille and Nice on a total of 14 multiplexes after a first call for applications. Two calls involving a total of 30 multiplexes are in progress, notably in Lyon, Lille, Nantes, Rouen, Douai-Lens, Strasbourg, Béthune, Valenciennes, Mulhouse, Dunkirk, Le Havre and Saint-Nazaire. The Council conducted from 27 July to 4 October 2017 a public consultation on accelerating the local deployment of DAB + and on how to organize a metropolitan call for applications. It received 47 contributions, representing all the components of the radio sector (publishers and their unions, distributors, broadcast providers, multiplex operators, receiver manufacturers).

Pure's Siesta S6 is probably the fanciest alarm clock you've ever clapped eyes on. As well as DAB and FM tuners, this bedside radio has Bluetooth built in.

SBS announced that audiences in Canberra and Darwin will now have access to a range of new radio stations with the launch of DAB+ radio services. The introduction of DAB+ services in Darwin and Canberra will be on a par with the digital services offered to audiences in the other five state capitals. In the Canberra market, certain ABC and SBS services are currently provided on a trial basis and audiences will need to retune their DAB+ receivers on 8 January 2018 to ensure they enjoy the available new range of ABC and SBS Radio services.

At the last meeting, the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting approved the competitive conditions and decided to announce a tender of radio stations for 14 places in the digital standard T-DAB in Kiev. The operator of the multichannel radio network will be the Concern RRT, the capacity of the multiplex is 14 radio channels.