The Plan
There is absolutely no point in developing DAB if we don’t know what the long-term plan is. Where we are going with DAB is the big question not being answered by Irish legislators, regulators or the industry itself.The Broadcasting Bill 2008 proposes a licence extension to FM broadcasters if they also simulcast on DAB. Why bother? All that achieves is extending the broadcasters business plan and allowing the listener to hear the same thing on a different band. There needs to be more. How about a licence extension to FM broadcasters who simulcast on DAB using the new technology to display programme related data such as the song now playing or a full EPG or best yet a broadcast website that puts rich content on a DAB receivers display? That way the FM broadcaster can extend their business plan and the listener gets a much better service if they listen to that station on DAB.
Elsewhere in the world some good plans are beginning to come together. In Australia FM broadcasters are going with DAB but they have to make full use of the platform by offering programme related data on recievers screens and operating brand new services only available on DAB. In return they are guaranteed no new entrants to the market for a number of years. Same in Germany.
In the UK the Digital Radio Working Group are recommending that national and regional services transition to DAB as a sole broadcast platform. This will free up considerable FM spectrum for more local and community services. In Norway, a similar market to Ireland, they plan to put everything on DAB and turn off FM altogether by 2014.
In Ireland we need to formulate a long term broadcasting plan and decide how DAB, DAB+ or DRM is going to fit in. After all, in 1988 there was a huge worry in Ireland that only allowing new local stations to broadcast on FM would adversely affect the industry. Those fears were obviously unfounded.
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