This year’s Federal Budget (announced on the 8th of May) included an allocation of $10.1 million for the community broadcasting sector to commence digital radio services.

The funding will be distributed over four years and is provided for technical infrastructure. It will help community broadcasters participate in the Federal Government’s framework of a staged rollout of digital radio services in the six state capital cities by 1 January 2009.

There is now a clear framework for the introduction of digital radio with the passing of legislation to introduce the platform into Australia.

Community broadcasters have now gained access to limited digital capacity in capital city markets and a level of funding to support initial infrastructure costs. Since the Government’s announcement in early May, the CBAA has continued a process of sector consultation to ensure the involvement of community broadcasters in the digital radio framework.

In October 2005, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts announced a framework to guide the introduction of digital radio in Australia. The CBAA has lobbied hard over the last decade for community broadcasters to have the same entitlements to digital capacity as the national and commercial broadcasters.

The Minister’s framework detailed a staged rollout for digital radio services. During the first stage, ‘wide-coverage’ community radio broadcasters have secured access rights of 128 kbps, up to a maximum of 256 kbps per available ‘multiplex’ in each state capital city, with that capacity to be used on a collective basis.

In other words, all wide-coverage community broadcasters receive a combined allocation of digital spectrum and work together to figure out how it’s used. New encoding technologies may enable more efficient use of the spectrum and increase the available capacity.

By contrast to analogue, radio stations operating in digital transmit a signal to a multiplex that combines several audio channels and encodes them into a single data stream. Data and other services – such as multimedia content – can then be added to form an ‘ensemble’.

As part of the digital radio framework, the community broadcasting sector also secured the right to collectively manage the operations of state-based multiplexes – the transmission infrastructure for digital radio – through a separate joint company and in consultation with commercial providers.

One option for community broadcasters is to deliver a single stream of ‘community radio content’ to each state-based multiplex to be readied for broadcast. Such an approach, and the nature of digital technology, requires the establishment of new content, management, and technical structures.

Legislation to enable the start of digital radio was introduced into Parliament in March 2007. The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Digital Radio) Bill 2007 provides access to a minimum level of guaranteed digital capacity (2/9ths or 256 kbps) for wide-coverage community radio broadcasters on each ‘foundation’ multiplex in capital cities.

However, the CBAA made a submission to the Senate Committee Inquiry that examined the Bill to raise a number of concerns about the legislative framework for digital community broadcasting services.

The Digital Radio Bill does not provide capacity for community radio broadcasting services on all available multiplexes, which was guaranteed as part of the digital radio framework. The legislation introduces the idea of a ‘non-foundation’ multiplex, which do not provide guaranteed and affordable access for community broadcasting.

A second area of concern for the CBAA is the management structure that is necessary for wide-coverage community radio broadcasters to participate in the digital radio framework. The Bill sets out a collaborative framework for management of access to multiplex capacity by way of a ‘digital representative company’ in each city, which the CBAA told the Senate Inquiry has the potential to be expensive and unwieldy.

Although the Bill was passed by the Senate, and is shortly due to receive assent, the CBAA will be seeking legal advice regarding interpretation of the legislation and the management models that are possible under the new law. These models will be discussed during consultation sessions due to take place later this year.

Funding received in this year's budget will go towards the capital costs associated with the establishment of a national network that will enable community broadcasters to deliver digital services. It will also assist in meeting the ongoing costs of linking and transmission to enable state capital city-based broadcasters to participate.

The first year of funding, 2007-08, includes a figure of $100,000 that will be used for technical planning in preparation for a 1 January 2009 start date for digital radio services. In the second year, funding of $5.8 million is allocated for the contribution network and transmission costs.

Ongoing costs are provided for the following two years with a review due in 2010. The review will consider the extent and costs for in-fill transmitters required for full and proper coverage of the state capital city licence areas.

While it is still being determined how the funding will be distributed, it is clear that grants will be aimed at assisting with digital radio infrastructure rather than content.

The Federal Government has decided on a staged rollout of digital radio services, beginning in the six state capitals from 2009. As a result, the initial involvement of community broadcasters is limited to forty ‘wide-coverage’ stations.

Digital radio will supplement existing analogue radio services for a considerable period and may never be a complete replacement, according to Federal Government policy.

The CBAA continues to argue for the full involvement of all community broadcasters, including sub-metros and stations in rural and regional areas. However, the Government hasn’t committed to a full rollout of digital radio throughout Australia.

In the meantime, the sector has secured digital capacity for a limited number of stations and some financial resources for an initial rollout of digital radio infrastructure.

The CBAA has been actively discussing the sector’s involvement in the digital radio framework through a Digital Radio Standing Committee (DRSC) that was established last year.

The Committee has provided input into the CBAA’s digital radio policy and contributed to various Government submissions. Most recently, the Committee met in Melbourne to discuss the implications of the Digital Radio Bill and to commence planning for 2007-08 financial year based on the Government’s offer of funding.

These meetings coincide with ongoing sector consultation, such as the Digital Radio Symposium that was held in September 2006. Wide-coverage community radio stations from the state capital cities attended, as did sector representatives, Government officers and industry experts.

The consultation process will continue this year with a series of sessions due to take place in state capital cities. The CBAA has approached the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA) for funding to enable this essential process of further consultation to take place. Further information will be provided via Email Updates and articles in CBX magazine.

The CBAA is also developing a digital radio section for its website, which should be operational by the end of June.

For more details, contact Craig Liddell: via cliddell@cbaa.org.au or 02 9310 2999