Within eight years Norway are going DAB exclusive for the majority of their radio services.
Why have Norway taken such a bold step? The answer is here from Ole Jorgen, the CEO of Digital Radio Norway, who shared their experience and thinking at the recent World DBM event in Berlin;
“The digital radio venture in Germany is not just important for German radio listeners and radio channels, but for all of Europe. As Europe’s largest radio market, it means a lot to us in less populated countries that the major European markets …

Commercial operators across Europe are just as keen as public broadcasters to see DAB arrive, and being commercially minded, they’re making it happen!
That was the loud and clear message at the Euro DAB conference for commercial broadcasters hosted by the WorldDMB organisation in Paris on March2nd.
Recent milestone developments include Germany’s big launch of DAB+ in August and Norway’s commitment to turn off FM in eight years time – fact.
Germany
Boris Lochtghofen, from Regiocast Germany, announced that DAB+ will begin full commercial service on August 1st. DAB has previously been on-air in …

The very very big news this week is that Norway has confirmed it will to switch-off its FM network and migrate exclusively to DAB within six years.
Unlike the UK, where they are waiting for digital radio usage to hit 50% before naming a switch-off date, Norway have confirmed it will happen by 2017.
Being a mountainous country Norwegian broadcasters have seen that DAB allows them to provide more radio services at a cheaper cost than expanding their FM network. They were particularly concerned that a decision be made sooner rather than …

The beginning of a new year is a good time to look at what’s in store for DAB over the coming months.
The downturn in the economy has unsurprisingly put the brakes on investment in DAB across Europe. However it has not prevented many countries from considering how they will implement digital broadcasting as the economy picks up again.
Ireland
The BAI are due to publish a white paper on how digital broadcasting will progress in Ireland. It’s widely expected they will establish DAB in line with new FM licences due for renewal …