Wednesday 16 August 2017

World's Fastest Mobile Network Marginalize DAB Radio

Increased space for radio and television in mobile networks in Norway.
According to statistics from Ookla, Norway has now the world's fastest mobile network. After hard competition between operators Norway has gone from 11th place to first place in one year. The average data rate on mobile has increased by 69% and now stands at 52.6 megabits per second. - Telenor, Telia and Ice.net have recently invested billions in the development of their 4G/LTE networks reaching all Norwegians. Moreover, the geographical coverage is better than for terrestrial radio as DAB+.


But the explanation why Norway has climbed so fast to the top position is that in September 2016, Telenor opened for the highest available speed for all subscriptions.

The measurement in July showed that Telenor had an average speed of 58.6 megabits per second for download. Telia's network had an average speed of 45.9 megabits per second in July. The Netherlands and Hungary are number two and three on the list of the world's fastest mobile networks. Neighboring Denmark and Sweden are now in 12th and 19th place.

Read full article in business daily Dagens Næringsliv
Norge har verdens raskeste mobilnett

Analysis: It should be noted that the increase with strong capacity for mobile networks in Norway occurs during a period when national terrestrial FM radio is replaced by digital networks DAB +. An action not welcome by the Norwegians according to several opinion polls.

Indications are that Norwegians who want to keep listening to public radio NRK instead of DAB+ will prefer on-line listening on their smartphone or via Carplay features in their cars. What speaks for this is also the fact that many already have such equipment. Therefore, these listeners do not need to invest in DAB+ equipment which already had suffered tough criticism regarding coverage and sound quality. In addition to this, there is no global market for DAB in smartphones. Often smartphones (excluding iPhones) also have an embedded FM receiver.

Also read
Mobile Broadband A Dark Cloud for DAB Radio
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Mobile Broadband the Fastest Growing ICT in Human History
DAB Is The Final Stop For Radio