Digital radio is currently being implemented in many parts of the world. According to WorldDAB, over 500 million people around the world can now receive nearly 1,000 different DAB services.




NOTE: The information below comes directly from WorldDAB.

April/May 2007

Australia: The Australian Government has outlined a framework for a digital radio policy and has set a launch date of 1 January 2009. Commercial services will be licensed on a market basis (with 109 licence areas across the continent). The broadcasters are to use the DAB+ standard for digital radio in Australia. The Australian radio industry plans to invest $400 million over the coming years to roll out digital radio across the country. A phased introduction is planned, beginning with Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart.

China: The Chinese regulator, SARFT, announced in May 2006 that DAB was chosen for the industrial standard. DMB trials have been on going in many cities across the country including: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Dalian. Currently there are various Chinese DMB manufacturers such as: Lenovo Mobile, Aigo, Longcheer, BBEF and SIM. DMB PMP receivers are already available in Beijing for affordable prices around RMB2500 (250 Euro). Dalian Tiantu Cable Television Network has recently been issued with a license for Mobile TV and plans to launch 4 radio services and 1 video service this June. Many local industrial players believe that CMMB and DAB/DMB are a good combination of digital broadcasting services for the consumer; CMMB is seen as the ideal technology for national digital broadcasting coverage and DAB/DMB is seen as the best technology for regional coverage.

Denmark: A new Danish commercial broadcaster, TV2 Radio, has been launched in February and they are broadcasting their FM-channel TV2 Radio on DAB as well. The situation on the Danish multiplexes will be changing over the coming months. DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) will have one multiplex. The commercial stations will have the other multiplex and there will be two places (four channels) on the second multiplex on auction after the summer holidays. DAB Denmark is expecting extremely good DAB radio sales to continue as DR and commercial broadcaster, Radio 100FM, will be launching a huge marketing campaign including TV- and radio ads mid May.

France: The French government has recently announced that the Eureka 147 family of standards was chosen for its digital radio standard. It is expected that the Government authority will issue calls for tender in the coming months, probably before Autumn 2007. The licenses for digital radio could be given for a commercial launch at the beginning of 2008. Tests are underway using DAB+ .

Germany: The DAB network in Germany covers nearly 85% of the country. The emitted power of a single transmitter is currently limited to 1 kW. The development in Germany is now stimulated by the results of the RRC 06, which offers the chance to install further multiplexes and to increase transmitter power to achieve a more efficient and reliable coverage. In 2008 a powerful Digital Radio re-launch is intended. In 2006 a DMB infrastructure in L-band was launched and offers 4 Mobile TV services. LBand is now recognised as a well -suited frequency range to cover metropolitan areas and for implementation in handheld devices.

Italy: The Italian Media Authority has recently had a consultation for digital broadcasting. It is expected that this will pave the way for a creation of a successful DAB market in Italy. There is currently a RaiWay DMB trial in Italy, which includes a variety of programmes. There has been discussion of a DAB+ trial in Italy some time this summer.

Kuwait: A DAB trial has been on going in Kuwait City since March 2007. Six audio programs are broadcast from Liberation Tower on Band III, covering almost the whole country. This experimentation led by Kuwait Radio could evolve to T-DMB and DAB+ trials in the coming months. A decision could then happen for a commercial roll out.

Malta: In early 2006, the Malta Communications Authority awarded the country’s four terrestrial DAB frequencies. Coverage is expected to reach 95% of the Maltese Islands, and the licence runs for eight years, subject to review after six. The operator, DIGI B, expects to adopt the new standard, DAB+ for audio services and DAB-IP for mobile TV services. DAB+ commercial rollout is expected by the end of 2007.

Norway: In Norway there is one national multiplex and three regional multiplexes. According the GE06, frequencies are planned for more than five national DAB coverages. Licences for the commercial broadcasters have been issued up to 2020. A coverage increase to 80% of the country is expected later this year.

Singapore: DAB currently can be received by 99% of the population. Mediacorp, the public broadcaster, recently announced that they have purchased DMB equipment to update their current DAB infrastructure. This equipment will allow for new multimedia applications to be broadcast, which could possibly include Mobile TV.

South Korea: As the first country to commercially launch mobile TV, South Korea has also seen surprising growth in the number of DMB receivers which is now well over 4 million. This number is expected to rise even more with an increase in coverage, which has already begun earlier this year. These numbers make South Korea the world’s most successful mobile TV market in the world!

Sweden: In addition to the 5 unique digital radio audio services there are also a few data services available which include: SR Plus, a BWS service which contains a condensed version of the SR web and SR EPG, a trial version for testing electronic programme guides and SR TPEG, which is a test service for future TPEG streams. There have also recently been test broadcasts of eight Danish digital radio programmes across the Stockholm area.

Switzerland: A major network ‘overhaul’ was done in the French speaking part of Switzerland at the end of February 2007, which increased coverage of the French speaking population from 60% to about 75%. New transmitters are currently being put up all over Switzerland almost every week. There are between 30,000 and 50,000 accumulative sales by the end of 2006 in Switzerland. These figures are expected to increase as a recent poll by Radio Swiss Jazz showed an increase in DAB listening from 3% to 11% from 2005 to 2006. This is an increase of almost 300% within one year!

The Netherlands: The Dutch regulatory body has recently announced that they will auction both LBand and Band III frequencies for DAB based broadcasts in May 2007. This decree further added that 80% of the spectrum must be used for DAB/DAB+/DAB-IP/DMB broadcasting, it was not clear in regards to how the other 20% should or could be used.

UK: DAB has yet again continued its growth in the UK with over 15% of households now owning a DAB digital radio and around 5 million sets sold. Further developments, which have aided in this growth, include the recent launch of mobile TV via DAB-IP. The unique on demand Digital Music Download Service is expected to launch later this year. Ofcom, the government regulator, has also recently announced the advertisement for the second national commercial multiplex and a further range of local/regional multiplexes further enhancing the vast array of stations available to the UK consumer. Slideshow trials are also continuing during the first quarter of the year.