Norwegians are going for DAB success in Oslo and Brussels
Being a small country and not an EU member it is notable how Norway is involved in European DAB-promoting in Brussels. And two Norwegians companies will put their hopes to the latest proposal (see separate story below) to the European Parliament which is the outcome of many years of aggressive lobbying. The most powerful resources regarding DAB comes from the EBU. For more than 8 years the EBU office in Brussels has an annual budget officially at 1-1,2 million euro.
However, consumer and eurolegal backlash is looming.
The European Electronics Communications Code (EECC) will include a new provision that any radio equipment integrated in a new car which is put on the market for sale or rent in the Union shall be capable of receiving digital terrestrial radio broadcasting. The political agreement on the EECC had been reached in June 2018 . This might be a step forward for the DAB system, but technical developments for mobile broadband might kill the whole setup.
Important step for broadcasting, but LTE 4G still sufficient for radio
Telecom equipment manufacturer Ericsson says the first smartphones supporting 5G will become available during early 2019. The June Ericsson Mobility Report makes three major other assertions: 1) 5G will kick off with enhanced mobile broadband as its first use case. 2) By the end of 2023, there will be 1 billion 5G subscriptions, accounting for around 20% of mobile data traffic. 3) A massive increase in 5G subscriptions is expected to be fueled by third-generation chipsets, which will be available from 2020 on a variety of frequency bands
Increasing political and business demands for a return to FM
For the first time daily listening to national radio is down under 50% in Norway. Last week down to 48,5% from 51,2% the week before according to Kantar TNS. Although the Norwegians now have an increased number of on-air channels to choose from there is a widespread discontent with DAB replacing FM. For several reasons DAB is far from becoming popular as projected by the public broadcaster NRK and other promoters.
The DAB fiasco will become a major political issue
Experience so far leaves no doubt that the closure of the FM network and the introduction of DAB is a tragedy for the Norwegian people. The Storting parliamentarian and media spokesperson for the Center Party, Åslaug Sem-Jacobsen, writes this in response to Frp (Progress Party) Thorleif Fluer Vikre, in a debate article published in several regional newspapers in Norway. Before joining Stortinget Sem-Jacobsen was employed by the public broadcaster NRK.
Minister of Culture meets sharp criticism in the Parliament
Culture Minister Trine Skei Grande (Venstre) will not take an initiative to find out how many people listen to DAB. It became apparent when she responded to a written question from Åslaug Sen-Jacobsen (Sp the Center party) in the Parliament. Åslaug Sem-Jacobsen is very disappointed with the minister. The question is, among other things, national preparedness and road safety.
Lobby group submit slanted document to media authority.
The digital radio inquiry conducted by the media authority ICASA (Reported here July 6) received 22 submissions including some by international stakeholders as the WorldDAB. This organisation is stepping up its efforts enticing South Africa to go DAB. - An experts group at the Swedish NGO the Public Service Council (PSR) in cooperation with the Norwegian Radio Listeners Federation (NRLF) has scrutinized the WorldDAB submission document and subsequently filed critical comments to ICASA. The technical parts have been screened by veteran broadcast engineers in Norway and Sweden.
Inquiry reveals digital radio doubtfulness.
Media authority ICASA has conducted an inquiry in order to examine the prospects of implementation of digital sound broadcasting services. Most entries are submitted by broadcasters in South Africa but also from international stakeholders as WorldDAB and DRM Consortium. The most of the 22 submissions clearly indicate that analogue FM radio should be retained and terrestrial digital radio should only be introduced as a complement. Input indicates that both the DAB and the DRM system might be introduced in South Africa.
Another setback for DAB promoters in Denmark
The government and the Danish People's Party (DF) have entered the final phase of the parliamentarian negotiations on the media settlement that will form the framework for the country's media 2019-2024. On the way to the negotiations with Minister of Culture Mette Bock (LA), DF media chairman Morten Marinus states that the media agreement will not open for the government proposed FM switch-off. The idea of a switch-off was to push forward a transition to digital terrestrial DAB radio.
"Why should millions be invested in a technology that is outdated tomorrow?"
Business federations in the federal state of Lower Saxony want to end the digital radio DAB+. The state Court of Auditors is also critical. We talk about digitalization, broadband and the 5G standard being within reach, so why should millions be invested in a technology that is outdated tomorrow? says Volker Müller, CEO of Unternehmerverbände (Employers' organizations).
Analogue and digital radio will co-exist also in the future
Consumer Center South Tyrol welcomes the statement of th regional government that FM broadcasting will continue to function. Earlier the broadcaster Rundfunkanstalt Südtirol (RAS) had taken the position that the old analogue FM network would eventually coming to a switch-off. Many radio listeners were worried that their FM radios would then be dead.
NATO can override national DAB radio frequencies.
Thousands of ordinary Norwegian citizens aren’t the only ones frustrated and dissatisfied after Norway’s forced transition to DAB radio. It meant shutting down FM radio, and now NATO may find itself in conflict with the civilian DAB frequencies it was granted for exercises in Norway. Nagging problems and conflicts continue to arise. Politicians and authorities were reportedly warned before they imposed DAB on the civilian population that it could cause problems in crisis situations. (Picture: Aftenposten)
