News

WorldDAB had a busy week at the ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium (DBS) 2025, in Klang, Kuala Lumpur. Held every year, the DBS is the premier event that provides a platform for broadcasters and industry leaders in the region to discuss key advancements, challenges, and innovations shaping the broadcast and media landscape. This year’s event had a significant focus on AI in broadcasting and media production, alongside the latest DAB+ developments. WorldDAB Project Director, Bernie O'Neill, looks back at WorldDAB's activities, presentations, and key findings during the event.

A first look at the life-saving Automatic Safety Alert (ASA) system on DAB+ will be available to delegates at this year’s Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Digital Broadcasting Symposium (DBS), held from 24 - 27 February in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The event is the premier technical symposium in the APAC region focussing on the broadcasting industry. WorldDAB — the global industry forum for DAB+ digital radio — is again a major sponsor of ABU DBS, presenting an expert DAB+ workshop and hosting a DAB+ Pavilion at the conference exhibition. The Pavilion features several major solution providers: Aldena, AVT Audio Visual Technologies, Paneda, and RadioDNS. WorldDAB member Digidia is also exhibiting at ABU DBS.

WorldDAB's work on the development of Automatic Safety Alerts (ASA) for DAB+ has been recognised at the Grand Prix of the Paris Radio Show. The ASA system was nominated in the ‘Best Technical Innovation’ category, which recognises new concepts, emerging technologies and innovative solutions. Three key features differentiate this DAB+ emergency alert system from all other existing solutions. Firstly, geographical targeting (only people in the relevant areas receive the notification). Secondly, inter-set signalling (receivers analyse references to alert announcements on other radio stations, increasing the flexibility and range of alerts). Finally, wake-up mode (receivers can be activated by the DAB+ signal, a particularly useful function for clock radios).

WorldDAB’s work to develop Automatic Safety Alerts (ASA) for DAB+ has been recognised by Paris Radio Show Grand Prix Awards. WorldDAB Project Director Bernie O’Neill said: “This new feature will help broadcasters and regulators to position broadcast radio as an asset in emergency situations given it is a robust and hack-resistant technology - while meeting the objectives of cultural diversity. This helps justify the required investment in the technology.”

Frontier is delighted to announce that our DAB+ receiver solutions have passed the Automatic Safety Alert (ASA) certification, marking a key milestone to launching the safety system in 2025. ASA is a new standard for safety that builds on top of the DAB+ standard and allows life-saving messages to be reliably broadcast to users. Germany is planning to be the first country to start DAB+ ASA broadcasting in 2025. Combined with Digital Tick, the ASA certification ensures that DAB+ receivers are fully compliant with the broadcast standard and provides comfort that receivers will respond correctly and in a timely manner to emergency broadcasts. Combined with Digital Tick, the ASA certification ensures that DAB+ receivers are fully compliant with the broadcast standard and provides comfort that receivers will respond correctly and in a timely manner to emergency broadcasts. Prem Rajalingham, Managing Director at Frontier said “this is an important milestone in the global rollout of ASA . Brands can now create DAB receivers that support the standard and can pass the tests knowing that the core technology has been approved”.

British chip manufacturer Frontier Smart Technologies presented a prototype of the next generation of DAB+ digital radios at IFA 2024. These devices are equipped with the new ‘Automatic Safety Alert’ (ASA) standard, which reliably warns the public in emergencies and crises. ASA transmits life-saving safety messages directly via the radio without the need for an internet connection. Typical alerts include severe weather warnings, evacuation requests or information on power outages. Thomas Pöcheim, Managing Director of the Austrian Digital Radio Association, was able to see the new ASA functions for himself at the Frontier stand. Watch the video for a demonstration of the new ASA system.

Carsten Zorger of Digitalradio Büro Deutschland, explains how devastating floods in Germany's Ahr Valley served as a catalyst for the development of a pioneering security system using DAB+ radio, designed to save lives and improve public safety worldwide. "The Automatic Safety Alert (ASA) system represents a significant advancement in public safety communication," he says. "The ASA system works by sending out safety alerts via the DAB+ radio network. These alerts can be transmitted in real-time, ensuring that the public is informed of imminent dangers such as natural disasters, industrial accidents, or terrorist threats."

New Automatic Safety Alerts (ASA) mean “lives will be saved as a result”, WorldDAB President Jacqueline Bierhorst said at the IBC Show in Amsterdam on Sunday. Bierhorst highlighted last week’s successful “Warntag” [warning day] tests in Germany, which featured the new ASA system via DAB+ for the first time. WorldDAB’s conference session at the annual content and technology show, which attracts over 45,000 delegates from 170 countries to the Netherlands, also heard from the Chair of its Technical Committee, Lindsay Cornell. He announced that the international ETSI specifications – the official standards underpinning the ASA system - have now been approved and published, marking the successful completion of the technical work.

Watch the video of WorldDAB's conference session at IBC2024. "Join WorldDAB industry experts to hear how DAB+ is energising broadcast radio markets around the world. This session includes updates on the latest global deployments, innovations in DAB+ emergency communication, and will delve into why broadcasters across Europe, Africa, the MENA region, and APAC are future proofing their radio industry with DAB+. This session is essential for radio broadcasters and media regulators aiming to stay ahead in the transformation of broadcast radio from analogue to digital."

On the nationwide warning day, functions of the new warning system via DAB+ radio, ‘Automatic Safety Alert (ASA)’, were successfully tested for the first time with pre-series devices from the TechniSat and Kenwood brands. From mid-2025, new generations of DAB+ radios will support the ASA standard and be available in electronics stores. In the event of a crisis, it is crucial that the radios are activated from standby mode and that the population is informed in a targeted manner. These two key functions of ASA have been successfully tested by the ARD regional broadcasters BR, HR, RBB and SWR during ongoing broadcasting operations. The results are analysed and incorporated into quality assurance. The radio stations are working closely with the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK).