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Norway is to become the first country in the world to switch off its FM radio signal in 2017.

Norway is getting rid of FM radio. In January 2017, Norway will shut off national FM radio in the country and transition to digital audio broadcast, or DAB. It’s essentially a switch from analogue radio to digital radio — comparable to the switch from analogue to digital television in the U.S.

Norway is set to be the first country to shut down FM radio, beginning in 2017. The Norwegian Ministry of Culture announced this week it has set the date for the shut down, making it the first country to move away from FM radio entirely. The country is set to adopt Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as the national standard.

South Africa still hasn't switched on commercial digital terrestrial television broadcasts, but that isn't holding back the broadcasting industry from running trials to test digital radio broadcasts.

Some countries are already stepping up their transition to digital radio, but Norway thinks it can one up them all. The nation's Ministry of Culture has revealed plans to switch off FM radio across the country in 2017, making it the first country to scrap conventional broadcasts.

Norway is to become the first country in the world to turn off its FM frequency and switch over to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) entirely by 2017. The announcement was made at the weekend by Norway's Minister of Culture.

The analogue FM broadcast in Germany will definitely not be able to meet the challenges ahead. Making radio future-proof therefore means making its provision a part of the hybrid approach combining terrestrial DAB+ broadcast with the mobile radio, especially its smartphone devices. These are the main messages of the Parliamentary State Secretary Dorothee Baer from the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) stated during an event organised by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure in Berlin on 16 April.

Per Morten Hoff in ICT Norway writes on Kampanje.com that to digitise the radio is "a very unwise decision." That this comes from "digitisation associated" ICT Norway is in itself a curiosity, and as usual Hoffs justifications based on factual errors and factors that are taken out of their original context.

The Government has concluded digitisation of radio in 2017. The Norweigan Government followed up the Storting's decision to digitise the radio sector, as the criteria for the technology shift has been fulfilled.

Each trial will allow new digital radio services to broadcast to a local area and will help explore how groups of radio stations can work together. The trials will also inform Ofcom's work on identifying suitable frequencies for broadcasting smaller digital stations and help understand how these services could be licensed.