MEDIA RELEASE - CBAA supports DAB+ Digital Radio

24 November 2011

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia’s National Conference, held at Queensland’s Gold Coast 17-20 November 2011 and attended by delegates from across the country, endorsed the use of DAB+ technology as key to bringing free-to-air digital radio services to all Australians.

CBAA General Manager, Kath Letch, said there was overwhelming support from delegates for community digital radio services, and their expansion into regional Australia.

Ms Letch said that the 37 metropolitan-wide community digital radio services launched this year in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth were already adding an impressive level of diversity, and that further digital media innovation will be added in 2012.

‘Digital radio is a vital free-to-air broadcast component of an increasingly converged digital media environment and community broadcasting services are an essential ingredient’, she said.

‘A commitment to the inclusion of community services on the digital broadcast platform is long-standing government policy. That inclusion is supported by current legislation and made affordable by tangible Government support; and both are essential for appropriate public policy outcomes’, she said.

At the national launch of community digital radio services in May, Federal Minister Stephen Conroy affirmed the Government’s on-going commitment and support, and also confirmed support for the community sector’s inclusion as the Government faced the challenges of bringing digital radio services to regional Australia.

Not the least of these challenges is finding suitable spectrum, especially now that free-to-air broadcast spectrum is being squeezed by the ‘Digital Dividend’ to make way for other purposes, including user-pays mobile broadband spectrum.

Conference sessions covered spectrum and transmission planning solutions which would enable further capacity for both metropolitan-wide and sub-metropolitan community digital radio services. As part of that, delegates also discussed shared multi-site transmission models with carefully managed coverage to ensure maximum service provision and spectrum efficiency.

Expanded digital radio planning requires an assessment of the need for broadcasting services, including community broadcasting services, on an area-by-area basis across the country. The key initial focus being major regional areas, with areas adjacent to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane being the most challenging in terms of spectrum availability.

The CBAA looks forward to further discussions as the Government and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) consult widely with industry on suitable models to facilitate the development of digital radio and convergent media services across Australia.