All posts by Mark
Below are all of Mark's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
@ Briantist
That's not quite what I meant. My thinking is that the BBC would broadcast all three (Radio Wales, Radio Scotland & Radio Ulster) across the whole of the UK on the national multiplex. In partioular it's a good way of getting Radio Scotland & Radio Wales on DAB across those nations and the transmitter rollout is in the BBC's own hands.
These stations are currently broadcast across the UK on digital satellite as well as online.
Ofcom haven't ruled out DAB+. In their December 2011 statement they say:
"DAB+ is a variant of DAB which uses a more advanced audio coding technology and provides greater capacity on digital multiplexes. We note that the capability to receive DAB+ has been included in the approved receiver specifications, and the coverage planning we are currently undertaking would be equally applicable for DAB+ services."
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@ Nedbod
Eglwysilan (serving Pontypridd) will be added to the Cardiff local DAB multiplex in Autumn 2012.
Radio Wales now have a high-power FM transmitter at Wenvoe (103.9).
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BBC National DAB has been available in the Channel Islands since June 2011 (Les Platons) so either those minutes are over a year old or the person that made that comment is misinformed.
Reception comments are largely irrelevant in the context of any switchover, because the BBC will be building another 175 transmitters between now and 2015. Only then can a proper coverage assessment be made.
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@ michael
The BBC, the Government and commercial radio have agreed to jointly fund the rollout of local DAB multiplexes to FM coverage levels. It won't be left to the commercial operator to decide on the level of coverage.
The rechargeable battery packs for Pure radios cost £20 (you might find them cheaper online). That isn't "very expensive" considering how many hours listening you get from them. One set of batteries can cost up to £10 these days.
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@ michael
"In order for coverage to equal FM, thousands of DAB relays would be needed."
From the BBC/Ofcom's own figures:
404 transmitters are needed for about 98% coverage of the BBC national multiplex (230 are already built, with 174 to be built by 2015).
699 transmitters are needed on the local multiplexes for FM equivalent coverage. This is covered by the signed Memorandum of Understanding and will be built by 2017.
Many of the sites used for local & national will be the same.
(94.9% of the population have robust coverage of BBC Radios 1,2 3 & 4. The FM coverage of Radio Cymru, Radio Scotland & Radio Ulster in those nations is similar).
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@ The Mekon
The Athelstaneford transmitter is currently only broadcasting the BBC national multiplex, but will also carry the "Edinburgh & Borders" local multiplex by 2016.
Ofcom are in discussions with Digital One about the further rollout of their national multiplex.
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@Theflyingdodo
The Berkshire & North Hampshire multiplex will be extended to East Berkshire within the next few years, which should improve reception in Epsom but will probably knock out reception of other 12D multiplexes e.g. Essex.
The additional sites will be at Coppid Beach, Windsor Castle & Maidenhead.
There will also be a Surrey multiplex within the next couple of years.
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@ trevorjharris
DAB cannot use 256 kbps because about 90% of radios sold in the UK will only decode bit rates up to 192 kbps (either MP2 or AAC).
The BBC has already signed a contract with Arqiva for another 174 transmitters for their national multiplex (to be built by 2015). This will take indoor coverage up to 97.4% (according to Ofcom robust FM coverage is 94.9%).
The transmitters are all fully compatible with DAB+ (which uses AAC/AAC+ and the much stronger Reed-Solomon error correction system). The BBC will probably switch to DAB+ within the next few years. Pure's latest UK models will receive DAB+ without the need for an upgrade.
Sweden is the latest country to announce a rollout of DAB+ to 95% of the population and then review FM switch-off (by around 2016).
DAB does support a traffic system and this is currently being tested on multiplexes in SE England.
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@ Ian Sherwood
The BBC could legally bid for the second national multiplex via one of their companies (BBC Enterprises or BBC Worldwide) but the tight licence fee settlement has ruled this out. They have set aside funding for a further 174 transmitters for their existing national mux, and around £10 million for their one third share of the rollout of the local multiplexes to 90% coverage. Anything else would have to wait until 2017.
The Regional Radiocommunications Conference allocated the VHF Band III frequencies across Europe. The UK doesn't need any more allocations for national DAB multiplexes in Band III, as nobody has the funds to pay for the transmitters. A switch to DAB+ in the UK would mean that up to 20 stations could fit on each of Digital 1 & Digital 2, and that's enough national capacity for a country like the UK.
As for the regional spectrum freed up I don't think this will result in a major replanning exercise due to the costs involved.
I think some of the uses are fairly obvious: the Severn Estuary mux frequency can be used to provide near universal coverage on the SE Wales multiplex, which is only half full. This also improves reception for Swindon & East Devon, because they are no longer co-block with SE Wales.
The West Midlands frequency can be used for Leicestershire, which improves reception on that mux, Wolverhampton & Norfolk (because they are no longer co-block with Leicester).
The closure of the Yorkshire mux improves reception in central Lancashire, while the closure of the NW mux improves reception in Nottingham.
Cumbria & Teeside are currently co-block, so reallocating the NE frequency improves reception on both.
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Tuesday 20 March 2012 6:13PM
@ Dave Lindsay
You are correct, but it's worth adding that if the BBC switches to DAB+ there will be room for BBC Radio Wales, Scotland & Ulster on their national UK multiplex as it will free up at least 50% of the multiplex.
I think it's a fair bet that this will happen before FM/AM is switched off.