DRM eyes Germany, Switzerland and Austria closely

Representatives of stations from Germany, Switzerland and Austria met this week at the University of Hannover (Germany) to discuss the situation of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) broadcasting system.

Given the stagnation of DAB in the countries of central Europe, representatives of Digital Radio Mondiale wanted to meet with the main broadcasters in Germany, Switzerland and Austria to publicize their digital broadcasting technology and the current state of DRM in the world. The high operating costs associated with DAB/DBM multiplex technology and the problems derived from spectrum management and the granting of new licenses are placing DRM as an initiative to take into account. Small broadcasters find DRM+ an optimal solution for their local and regional scope since with a small bandwidth, DRM+ meets their requirements, while these stations would not have to share multiplexes with other large broadcasters.

Throughout this meeting it became clear that in all likelihood the new broadcast spectrum would be in 174-230MHz (Group III), thus accommodating digital channels during a transition period. This is because DRM is a digital-only system with scalable bandwidths that can overlap with current VHF channel plans, but not with conventional FM on the channels on which it currently operates in analog broadcast. After discussion, it was concluded that broadcasting additional digital radio programs in addition to analogue broadcasting in Band II is not possible in half of Europe, where Band II is occupied. Therefore, the broadcasters and engineers present at the event have concluded that what is required is to explore the possibility of using Band III (174-230MHz) for DRM.

Those attending this meeting showed their interest in both the narrowband DRM30 version and the broadband DRM+ version.