Norwegians Still Do Not Want DAB Radio

Seven out of ten say reject FM switch-off. DAB project close to a fiasco.
In an opinion poll on behalf of the national daily Dagbladet the resistance is at its greatest in the three northernmost counties. The switch-off begins in January in Nordland. An overwhelming majority of the people are strongly against closing the FM network and a transition to DAB. 66 percent of respondents said that they were against moving from FM to DAB. Only 17% say they are for this. Dagbladet carried an identical survey in July this year, with almost the same results.

Local Radio Demanding FM Frequencies Left By National Channels Going DAB

Great opportunity for local operators in Norway when state and foreign-owned broadcasters move to DAB.
This opening of airwaves will put pressure on politicians to show their cards on the democratic agenda before next years's general elections. When national channels disappear from the FM band next year the vacant frequencies should be used by local radio, says Norwegian Local Radio Association (NLR), which also ask for an increase in subsidies, less detailed regulation of the industry as well as continuity and better overall framework regulation. NLR has recently submitted its comments to the media pluralism investigation committee.

FM Switch-off for National Channels in Norway On Schedule

Dramatic stand-off in parliament. Labor saved Conservative government from a DAB defeat. But the transition plan is rejected by most Norwegians.

Amidst reports coming in from all parts of the country regarding insufficient DAB coverage and other technical problems Stortinget had to decide on two proposals for a postponement of the FM switch-off 2017 or a complete abandonment of the switch-off pan.   
It has been questioned if the DAB network can meet the the emergency alert requirements. DAB is not reaching out on all roads to the motorists and the coverage at sea will be halved when switching off FM. Today, only 23 % of the cars in Norway (not counting foreign vehicles) are equipped with DAB+

Emergency Authority: Easy to Hack Norwegian DAB Radio.

Picture: Oppland Arbeiderblad 

Connected to the car network via in-car radio hackers are able to manipulate crucial vehicle functions

The Norwegian Civil Contingencies Agency (DSB) are sounding the alarm about units in DAB networks can be vulnerable to hacker attacks. Information indicates that it will be relatively easy to produce your own DAB transmitter that can be used to send malicious code to car radios. As DAB radio often is connected to the rest of the vehicle internal network, a hacker can to put key features out of order, said in the report now submitted to the Ministry of Justice.

FM Radio Switch-Off Problems for Swiss Emergency Information

DAB transition forces the government to find new solutions

Without emergency alerts via FM, the whole population will not be reached by radio. Now the federal government is looking for new ways to inform in an emergency, such as earthquakes, landslides and floods. According to public radio SRG, digital radio DAB+ is expected to gradually replace FM from 2020. This threatens to become a catastrophic gap for information authorities. Today’s alarm system cannot be used any longer. It is clearly defined in the event of a disaster: When the sirens are heard radio should be turned on. This usually via the major radio channel. If this should fail, there is emergency transmitters.

Increased Internet Share of Broadcast Distribution in Sweden

Television online increasing while the terrestrial and satellite on steady decrease

Traditional television is distributed to consumers through various distribution platforms such as cable, satellite and terrestrial networks, and broadband via fiber, fiber LAN and xDSL. In June 2016 there were 5.2 million digital and analog pay-TV subscriptions in Sweden. Of this there were 2.8 million digital television subscriptions, which was an increase of 2 percent a year. Broadband expansion also affects how we receive traditional linear television. The number of subscriptions for IPTV continued to increase during the first half writes the Telecom Authority (PTS) in its report.