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Supporters of the analog switch off in Norway put forward the benefits of DAB+, including lower costs and more channels. Ole Jørgen Torvmark, the CEO of Digital Radio Norway gave his thoughts on the switchover at Radiodays Europe earlier this week.

Austrian telecommunications regulator RTR is providing up to four million euros for the launch of DAB+ services. Half the fund is planned for the tender, which runs until June, and the remaining two million is devoted to any future calls for tenders by 2020. A maximum of 50% of the actual costs are subsidized. "If, for example, a nationwide service with 15 programs were to be launched, then we could imagine providing about 1.5 million for the radio operators involved over a three-year period. A further 500,000 is available to promote regional DAB+ coverings", explained RTR's Managing Director, Alfred Grinschgl.

Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission is to launch digital radio in 2018 and is finalising guidelines before the start of a nationwide trial. DAB+ licenses are to be sold gradually nationwide, regionally and then locally.

The BBC’s Director of Radio and Music, Bob Shennan, set the tone at this year’s RadioDays Europe conference in Amsterdam with a statement of his ambition “to reinvent and grow radio”. Speakers across the three-day event reinforced the message that radio remains in good health, despite increased competition from streaming audio and other platforms.

Radiodays Europe 2017 came to a close yesterday after three days at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam. A notable session from the conference discussed how Norway has scrapped FM broadcasting in favor of DAB+ and digital broadcasting.

Radioinfo took the opportunity during Radiodays Europe to ask Ole Jørgen Torvmark, the CEO of Digital Radio Norway, for his views on Norway's switchover to DAB+ digital radio.

Norway has begun switching its traditional FM network to a digital-only (DAB+) broadcasting system. In January radio signals were shut off in Bodo, Nordland, with the remaining regions scheduled to follow by the end of the year.

DAB+ with Service Following and Traffic Announcements, FM transmitter, big colour display with 5 preset buttons, Bluetooth and handsfree are just some of the features of POPyourCAR 3.0, one of the most traffic safe solutions for inCar DAB+.

The sonoroSTEREO 2 with Bluetooth, FM and DAB radio, USB playback and a slot-in-CD drive impresses lite magazine with its unique design, simple elegance, excellent workmanship and great features.

GfK has released the year’s first DAB+ survey results, showing cumulative audience numbers for each station. Since the first DAB+ broadcast in 2009, this is the first time that audience numbers for all DAB+ only stations have been released one week after the official metropolitan GfK radio ratings.