DAB Radio Cannot Replace FM in Cars in Sweden

Digital radio proposal missed importance of in-car radio
- including foreign visitors on Swedish roads

In an article in Sweden's no.1 daily Dagens Nyheter the two major car organizations Bil Sweden and Motormännen write that the DAB radio proposal recently presented to the government "seems to have forgotten that three out of ten radio listeners sit in a car".  The proposed time table for switching off FM 2024 is too tight. Millions of cars with FM receivers only will still be in use ten years from now.

It seems also forgotten that Sweden's neighboring world is comprising more than just Norway, comments Gunnar Bergvall president of the Public Service Council.

No Decision to Introduce DAB+ in Sweden

DAB lobby slanting facts about digital radio proposal.

Last week a proposal for a transition from FM to DAB+ in 2016-2024 was presented to the Swedish government. Information about his has now been slanted by DAB promoters as a decision by  the Swedish government for a “roadmap” to a digital-only future. The announcements from Sweden and Switzerland send a clear statement that the future of radio is digital, claims Patrick Hannon, president of the EBU connected lobby organization WorldDMB.   

However, the Swedish government has not taken any kind of decision regarding digital radio. The former center-right government commissioned a "digital radio coordinator" and she has now presented a proposal for a roadmap.  

Royal Academy Rejects DAB Radio

A severe setback for proposal to switch-off FM in Sweden 

The renowned Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) has promptly rejected DAB digital radio in response to the proposed roadmap for a transition to DAB+.

The "Digital Radio Coordinator" commissioned by the former center-right government presented her proposal Dec 1. The plan consists of a mutual launch, extension of the licenses for commercial radio actors to broadcast analogue and a conditional shutdown of FM transmissions 2016-2024.
However, the proposal has been mauled by the public opinion in the press and social media and widely criticized by experts outside the DAB sphere of interest. 

Proposal for a Transition to DAB+ Meets Widespread Doubt in Sweden

Thumbs down for a roadmap with a FM switch-off.
Public funding will be crucial. Set for a political decision autumn 2015.

A Digital Radio Coordinator has for a year worked together with the public service radio and the commercial radio industry to produce a roadmap on how to digitalize terrestrial radio, not why. The plan consists of a mutual launch, extension of the licenses for commercial radio actors to broadcast analogue and a conditional shutdown of FM transmissions. However, the proposal is not welcome with enthusiasm by the public opinion.

FM Capability in U.S. Smartphones Rises

FM radio in smartphones bundled with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on a “connectivity” chip

With the release of the NextRadio smartphone app now preloaded on some 30 devices, NAB Labs is seeing progress on the availability of FM in devices compared to two years ago. However, data shows that while FM chips have been present in nearly all of the top-selling smartphones in the U.S. in the past two years, their software and hardware integration levels still varies.

Broadcasters Question DAB Venture in Denmark

DAB Technology in Doubt - Online Radio Might Take Over 

Copyright organizations join the critics

Some of the major private radio broadcasters together with the music copyright organizations are skeptical that DAB should be the future digital platform in Denmark. This is expressed in a letter to Folketinget - the Danish Parliament. Among the signatories is surprisingly SBS Discovery (at present behind the DAB efforts in Norway and Sweden).

The signatories fear the development of a technology which nobody believes in  any longer and that nobody would venture a political decision to stop it or change strategy. They point to the fact that DAB/DAB+ has a limited use in Europe and presents no clear advantages for the listeners.