The end of DAB radio in Sweden
Christer Hederström, Media Advisor and Editor of the newsletter
Public Access, Stockholm, Sweden writes:
The minister of culture and education Leif Pagrotsky has announced
that he will not take any decision to close down the analogue FM
network in Sweden.
The government will not cater to the requests from the national
public broadcaster Sveriges Radio to start nationwide digital radio
DAB broadcasting. Pagrotsky says that it will not be worth the money.
It will be too expensive to replace 25-30 million analogue FM receivers
in Sweden.
Sveriges Radio has already put €40 million into DAB mostly
for broadcasts on a temporary basis in four cities for a couple
of years, but a transmission network for the whole country is already
established but put on ice awaiting a government decision.
By this decision Sweden follow the example of Finland which a year
ago closed the DAB case. Sveriges Radio will now concentrate more
on other technologies such as webcasting and podcasting as well
as radio via mobile telephones (DVB-H). Leif Pagrotsky has also
mentioned radio via the terrestial digital television network (DTT)
as a good solution for Sveriges Radio.
Sveriges Radio is not unaware of the DRM technology as its overseas
service Radio Sweden is broadcasting via Radio Netherlands and Radio
Canada International on DRM shortwave, and also have some experimental
transmissions from the Sölvesborg shortwave transmitter site
in Sweden. However, a debate about digitalization of the FM-band
(DRM+ or HD Radio) has not yet started in Sweden.
Source: Media Network
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