angelburst29
The Living Force
Norway on Wednesday completed its transition to digital radio, becoming the first country in the world to shut down national broadcasts of its FM radio network despite some grumblings.
Norway becomes first country to switch off FM radio Wednesday 13 December 2017
https://www.thelocal.no/20171213/norway-becomes-first-country-to-switch-off-fm-radio
As scheduled, the country's most northern regions and the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic switched to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) in the late morning, said Digitalradio Norge (DRN) which groups Norway's public and commercial radio.
The transition, which began on January 11th, allows for better sound quality, a greater number of channels and more functions, all at a cost eight times lower than FM radio, according to authorities.
The move has however been met with some criticism linked to technical incidents and claims that there is not sufficient DAB coverage across the country.
In addition, radio users have complained about the cost of having to buy new receivers or adapters, usually priced around 100 to 200 euros.
Currently, fewer than half of motorists (49 percent) are able to listen to DAB in their cars, according to DRN figures.
According to a study cited by local media, the share of Norwegians who listen to the radio on a daily basis has dropped by 10 percent in one year, and public broadcaster NRK has lost 21 percent of its audience.
"It's a big change and we have to give listeners time to adapt to digital radio," the head of DRN, Ole Jørgen Torvmark, said in a statement.
"After each shutdown (in a region), we noticed that the audience first dropped but then rose again," he added.
The transition concerns only national radio channels. Most local stations continue to broadcast in FM.
Other countries like Switzerland, Britain and Denmark are due to follow suit in the coming years.
Just days after switch from FM, Norway’s DAB system goes down 19 January 2017
https://www.thelocal.no/20170119/just-days-after-switch-from-fm-norways-dab-system-goes-down
“Due to the breakage of a fibre cable in Oppland county, we are without DAB coverage,” Saltan police wrote on Twitter.
“I can confirm that it is a fibre break in the Oslo area and in Oppland. In Oppland it is affecting broadband and mobile, while there are problems with the DAB network across the country,” Elisabeth Aarsæther in Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority to VG.
Digital TV and radio provider Norkring said the breach was caused by "human error related to excavation work”. Shortly before midnight on Wednesday the company said that the error had been fixed and that the network was up and running again.
While the outage may have been temporary, it likely did little to assuage the concerns of the many Norwegians who say the country’s complete switchover from FM to DAB is premature.
Norway last week became the first country in the world to begin shutting down its FM radio network in favor of digital radio. The big switch-off started in Nordland and will expand to the rest of the country by the end of the year, making millions of old radios obsolete.
Although supporters say DAB offers better sound quality and more channels at an eighth of the cost of FM transmission, a recent poll found 66 percent of Norwegians are against shutting down FM, with only 17 percent in favor.
Converting a car radio involves buying an adaptor for between 1,000 and 2,000 kroner (€110 to €220), or getting a whole new radio.
It's completely stupid, I don't need any more channels than I've already got," Eivind Sethov, 76, told AFP in Oslo. "It's far too expensive. I'm going to wait till the price of adaptors comes down before getting one for my car."
So while the switch to digital will reduce the cost of transmission for broadcasters, it is listeners who will pick up much of the cost of the transition.
Part of the reason Norway is the first country to switch away from traditional analogue transmission is to do with topography -- it is expensive to get FM signals to a small population scattered around a landscape riven with fjords and high mountains.
Norway’s switchover will be watched closely in Europe by Switzerland, Denmark and Britain, where listeners have taken strongly to digital radio and which all plan to shut down FM radio broadcasts at some point in the future.
Norway becomes first country to switch off FM radio Wednesday 13 December 2017
https://www.thelocal.no/20171213/norway-becomes-first-country-to-switch-off-fm-radio
As scheduled, the country's most northern regions and the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic switched to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) in the late morning, said Digitalradio Norge (DRN) which groups Norway's public and commercial radio.
The transition, which began on January 11th, allows for better sound quality, a greater number of channels and more functions, all at a cost eight times lower than FM radio, according to authorities.
The move has however been met with some criticism linked to technical incidents and claims that there is not sufficient DAB coverage across the country.
In addition, radio users have complained about the cost of having to buy new receivers or adapters, usually priced around 100 to 200 euros.
Currently, fewer than half of motorists (49 percent) are able to listen to DAB in their cars, according to DRN figures.
According to a study cited by local media, the share of Norwegians who listen to the radio on a daily basis has dropped by 10 percent in one year, and public broadcaster NRK has lost 21 percent of its audience.
"It's a big change and we have to give listeners time to adapt to digital radio," the head of DRN, Ole Jørgen Torvmark, said in a statement.
"After each shutdown (in a region), we noticed that the audience first dropped but then rose again," he added.
The transition concerns only national radio channels. Most local stations continue to broadcast in FM.
Other countries like Switzerland, Britain and Denmark are due to follow suit in the coming years.
Just days after switch from FM, Norway’s DAB system goes down 19 January 2017
https://www.thelocal.no/20170119/just-days-after-switch-from-fm-norways-dab-system-goes-down
“Due to the breakage of a fibre cable in Oppland county, we are without DAB coverage,” Saltan police wrote on Twitter.
“I can confirm that it is a fibre break in the Oslo area and in Oppland. In Oppland it is affecting broadband and mobile, while there are problems with the DAB network across the country,” Elisabeth Aarsæther in Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority to VG.
Digital TV and radio provider Norkring said the breach was caused by "human error related to excavation work”. Shortly before midnight on Wednesday the company said that the error had been fixed and that the network was up and running again.
While the outage may have been temporary, it likely did little to assuage the concerns of the many Norwegians who say the country’s complete switchover from FM to DAB is premature.
Norway last week became the first country in the world to begin shutting down its FM radio network in favor of digital radio. The big switch-off started in Nordland and will expand to the rest of the country by the end of the year, making millions of old radios obsolete.
Although supporters say DAB offers better sound quality and more channels at an eighth of the cost of FM transmission, a recent poll found 66 percent of Norwegians are against shutting down FM, with only 17 percent in favor.
Converting a car radio involves buying an adaptor for between 1,000 and 2,000 kroner (€110 to €220), or getting a whole new radio.
It's completely stupid, I don't need any more channels than I've already got," Eivind Sethov, 76, told AFP in Oslo. "It's far too expensive. I'm going to wait till the price of adaptors comes down before getting one for my car."
So while the switch to digital will reduce the cost of transmission for broadcasters, it is listeners who will pick up much of the cost of the transition.
Part of the reason Norway is the first country to switch away from traditional analogue transmission is to do with topography -- it is expensive to get FM signals to a small population scattered around a landscape riven with fjords and high mountains.
Norway’s switchover will be watched closely in Europe by Switzerland, Denmark and Britain, where listeners have taken strongly to digital radio and which all plan to shut down FM radio broadcasts at some point in the future.
