Mobile Broadband A Dark Cloud for DAB Radio

Digital radio delays put television pressure on VHF Band III

The UHF band 700 MHz today in use by digital terrestrial television (DTT) will gradually be taken over by mobile broadband on a global scale. Television will have to find frequencies on lower bands and is now looking into the band originally created for television VHF band III which today also hosts DAB radio.

The European Broadcasting Union says that during last year’s discussions mobile services did not show an interest for the lower band (the VHF band), as the technical characteristics of the UHF band offered them an optimum balance between coverage achieved and antenna size. However, since then with continued delays to the deployment of digital radio in Band III, the idea of using those frequencies for DTT has been gaining ground.

FM Still Major Radio Listening Platform in the UK

BBC FM Radio Content Dominate Digital Listening. DAB sales down 9% 

Over the full 12 months to June 2014, digital listening (including DAB, DTV and online) accounted for a 36.3% share of all radio listening hours in the UK. Two-thirds of digital radio listening is through a DAB set. In the 12 months to June 2014  listening to digital radio was via a DAB set 65.3%, while 16.3% of digital listening was online or via apps. Digital TV accounted for 13.8%. BBC stations accounted for over half of digital listening (55.6%); of which simulcasts of analogue BBC radio services contributed the most.

Smartphones Becoming Major Radio Listening Device

FM Radio expansion and smartphone boom go together

India with today 900 millions mobile phones is becoming major world market for smartphones. The market price for quite advanced models, some priced at around $70, are becoming affordable for most people as the devices are multifunctional tools not only for communication but also for emergency alerts, education, banking, news and entertainment replacing other stand-alone devices as radio and television receivers. 

The first Android One-branded budget-priced "high quality" smartphones have now been released in India. 

FM Band in Brazil Being Extended 50 %

Closure of analogue TV gives space for more radio

A migration of medium wave (AM) stations to FM is on its way. In metropolitan areas as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Curitiba the present FM band is congested and will be extended. Jovem Pan AM 620 in São Paulo has received a permit from the Ministry of Communications to be able to start testing the signal on "extended FM" (which will range from 75,2 MHz up to 87,5 MHz and receive the AMs in major centers). The test on 84,7 MHz will be conducted by Jovem Pan will play an important role in the process of migrating AMs for extended FM radios. 

German Radio Pioneer Warns Against FM Closure

Photo: FFH nh

Media policy statement at radio award ceremony

The journalist and editor of the magazine Focus, Helmut Markwort, has received  the "German Radio Award 2014" for his services to the German private radio sector. Markwort is one of the pioneers of private radio in Germany and the founder of HIT RADIO FFH 1989. 
- In the acceptance speech on stage in Hamburg for the Deutscher Radiopreis 2014 Helmut Markwort took the opportunity for a statement against a switch-off date for FM in order to force the transition to digital radio:

DAB Radio Venture Scrutinized by National Audit

Might end efforts to introduce the DAB system in Sweden

After a preliminary study since April 2014 Riksrevisionen - the Swedish National Audit Authority - has set on a review of government involvement in digital DAB radio, which is planned to replace FM radio 2022.  A central question is if the taxpayers will get their moneys' worth. Will it be efficient to constructe a new infrastructure for radio? In the preliminary study there have been indications that different alternatives are not sufficiently considered as well as the consequences for the society and the citizens.

HD Radio On Trial in Norway

All-digital mode gives unexpected range of reach. Challenge to DAB+ and DRM+

An up to day successful trial with the U.S. digital radio technology HD Radio (IBOC) has started in Oslo managed by the Norwegian Local Radio Association (NLR). The station is Radio Nero on 98,7 MHz.

In contrary to the standard setup for HD Radio in the U.S. with the main channel in both analogue and digital mode this transmission is all-digital. Because of this the range of reach - with no signal loss - is surprisingly good even with this 100 watt transmitter in Oslo.

Swedish Broadcast Provider Makes Major Investment in FM Radio

Upgrade of the national FM network indicates less belief in the future for DAB+

The state-owned radio- and television broadcast provider Teracom has signed a contract with GatesAir in Cincinnati USA for a network-wide FM upgrade.Teracom selected GatesAir Flexiva transmitters, and the initial rollout phase will conclude in the first quarter of 2015, with installations scheduled for one dozen of its 30-plus FM stations. The remaining installations will conclude in 2016. - This investment indicates that Teracom is counting on that the FM network is not going to be closed for a for-seeable future.

Commercial Radio in Hamburg Rejects DAB+

Limited interest for DAB radio on the local market

The two major privately owned radio stations in Hamburg - Radio Hamburg and Alster Radio - abstain from applying for DAB+ license at the local state media authority.

The CEO of Radio Hamburg Carsten Neitzel says that the sale of DAB receivers is in no proportion to the annual sale of 200-250.000 FM receivers in Germany.

DAB Radio in Norway: The Lobby Gets Its Own Local Radio Association

Big Radio Business Leaves The National Local Radio Association

A new association for local radio in Norway is set up in opposition to the long established Norwegian Local Radio Association (NLR).
The NLR chairman says that the new organisation is set up in order to split the radio sector and is de facto an organisation for promoting the DAB radio system. The suspicion is that the two major commercial radio networks is behind the new organisation.

What's True About Mobile Broadband Broadcasting?

Biased "research reports" ignore the impact of LTE technology

It is claimed that the large download capacity provided by the wireless communication standard 4G/LTE will solve all problems for the IP distribution of radio, and maybe even television, services to mobile devices. According to broadcasting organizations such statements represent an oversimplification of a complex problem, including various non-technical aspects such as net neutrality, and costs writes EBU. 

However, after three much toted reports the broadcasting sector have not yet presented the complete picture but rather leaving out the decisive facts of the capacity growth for future 4G and 5G as well as recent developments of the LTE Broadcast multicast technology.

First Wide-scale 700MHz LTE Broadcast Trial Launched

Will broadband operators become also broadcasters?

Nokia Networks (Finland) has announced what it says will be the world’s first field trial of wide-area LTE Broadcast technology, using a single LTE frequency within the UHF spectrum in Munich, Germany. This technology can be used both for radio and for television.

The single frequency network (SFN)-based trial will see all base stations use exactly the same frequency to transmit TV content, which maximises the number of simultaneous TV channels broadcast over a large geographical area in a given amount of spectrum. The use of LTE Broadcast will enable users to watch TV without eating into their mobile data plan and will be independent of network load.