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.
