Two of three public service companies see problems and risks with digital radio
Sweden has three public service companies; for radio, for television and for educational radio/tv. In the government’s public service consultation Sveriges Television (SVT) and Utbildningsradion (UR) see advantages with digital radio for Sveriges Radio (SR) but are cautious of economy and technical solutions. The companies position themselves skeptical to the proposal by the public service commission.
UR says that the basic development of digital radio must be market driven and that DAB or DAB+ is not the given choice of system. A technical transition should not be done at the expense of content.
SVT sees risks in digitalization especially the double costs for
parallel distribution for both public service and commercial radio during a very long period. Sharing the income from the license fee SVT fears that digitalization can affect its economy and the program quality. According to SVT it seems that the calculations made for the consultation are based on assumptions made by the transmission company Teracom which will profit from DAB implementation. Before establishing an analog switch-off date SVT sees reasons to wait for development in other countries, especially technical developments.
Four years ago SVT proposed that SR should distribute digital radio via the television digital terrestrial network (DVB-T2). This model was supported by the conservative Minister of Culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth (still at her post).
