India to Introduce Latest Mobile Broadcast Technology (updated)

Photo: Open Channel ApS

Public service plans to broadcast 20 free DVB-T2 Lite channels and radio on mobile phones 

Television broadcaster Doordarshan plans to start broadcasting directly a bouquet of 20 free-to-air television channels in partnership with private media on mobile phones from next year. The service on mobile phones is being planned in Mumbai and Delhi to start with.

Doordarshan will use DVB-T2 Lite technology which can be accessed through a dongle at present. Target is to start with all free-to-air channels operating at our DTH platform, said Shri Jahwar Sincair, CEO of Prasar Bharati, the public broadcasting company operating Doordarshan and All India Radio.

British Effort to Get Local Radio on DAB

Consultation to get smaller radio stations on DAB

Media authority Ofcom has published a consultation seeking views on the approachto issuing new short-term licences to support small-scale digital radio trials being run by Ofcom next year. If successful, this new technology could allow smaller radio stations to go digital at a lower costs.

German Federal State Retaining FM Radio For Ten Year

Flawed DAB+ uptake makes politicians to reconsider switch-off

The media committee in the federal state parliament of Saxonia-Anhalt has decided to change the media law in order to retain FM broadcasting at least until 2025. Today's decision safeguards that the FM radio in the end of this year will not end up as electronic scrap and that radio will continue to be a popular media, says the vice chairman of the CDU parliamentary group Markus Kurze. If most households use analogue radio then this way of broadcasting must be retained he says (Radiowoche.de)

Universal Radio Broadcasting in Smartphones an Uphill Struggle

DAB radio in mobile phones is a matter of survival

Mobile data costs less of an issue than ever before

The effort to embed radio chips in smartphones and other mobile devices is now a coordinated effort between BBC and other proponents in the US, Europe and Australia. They’re prodding manufacturers and carriers to embed and activate FM and DAB tuners into handsets. Because iBiquity is involved, presumably the ability to include HD Radio on those FM chips is involved as well according to Radio World. 
But will this effort impress the global mobile phone market?

Closing Longwave Not Popular in Ireland

DAB lobby keen to get public service out of the AM band

The public service radio in Ireland RTE has announced it is now closing down its Radio1 Longwave Service on 252 kHz. However, this decision is made without any consultation and has been met by opposition. The close down is now postponed until January 19th 2015. The critics say that the change will disadvantage individuals and groups in the Republic, and members of the Irish Diaspora living in N. Ireland and the UK. 

National Audit Review Might End DAB+ Venture in Sweden

A stop for basic public funding will force digital radio to be market dependent

The National Audit Office Riksrevisionen is focusing on if the taxpayers will get their money's worth if DAB+ replaces FM radio in 2022 and whether it will be efficient to construct a new radio infrastructure. According to a preliminary study, which started in April of this year, there have been indications that different alternatives were not sufficiently considered, nor were the consequences for the society and citizens.

FM Expansion On Its Way in Sweden

Will put a DAB+ introduction in doubt 

Broadcast provider Teracom has found 68 new vacant frequencies in the FM band which can open for 17 new commercial radio concessions. The telecom authority PTS is now looking into the issue and will present its analysis probably next month.

The promoters of a DAB introduction in Sweden has claimed that digital radio is necessary because 'the FM band is full' and 'we need DAB+ to make space for more radio stations'.

Licenses for Digital Commercial Radio Increase Media Ownership Concentration in Sweden

A DAB+ breakthrough is still far off in Sweden. 2015 is the decisive year.

The media authority has awarded 21 national licenses and four regional licenses for commercial radio on digital DAB+ in Sweden.

The application process has not revealed any interest from new local or national actors or from new foreign companies. There has been more space offered than present demand and all applications has been granted.
The licenses are awarded to radio actors, which are already well-established on FM. 21 of 25 licenses go to the oligopoly of national commercial radio; SBS Discovery and MTG. The four regional licenses are also awarded established local FM stations.

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.