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 so that better use can be made of 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 has 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.

Community broadcasters will need to deliver a 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. 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.

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 with the sector during this year.

The 2007 Federal Budget (announced on 8 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 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 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.

The funding is for technical planning in preparation for a 1 January 2009 start date for digital radio services for the contribution network and transmission capital and operational costs. The bulk of the capital costs are slated for 2008-09.

Ongoing costs are provided for the following two years. A review is scheduled for 2010 to consider the extent and costs for in-fill transmitters required for full and proper coverage of the state capital city licence areas.

The funding is to assist with digital radio infrastructure costs rather than content.