In 2017, Norway will be first country to shut down FM radio

T

tay

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Norwegian Ministry of Culture finalized a shift date this week, making it the first country to do away with FM radio entirely. The country plans to transition to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as a national standard.


A statement released this week by the Ministry of Culture confirms a switch-off date that was proposed by the Norwegian government back in 2011. The government has concluded that the country is capable of meeting all the requirements necessary for a smooth transition to digital.


"Listeners will have access to more diverse and pluralistic radio-content, and enjoy better sound quality and new functionality," Minister of Culture Thorhild Widvey said in a statement. "Digitization will also greatly improve the emergency preparedness system, facilitate increased competition and offer new opportunities for innovation and development."


DAB currently offers 22 national channels as opposed to FM's five, and has the capacity to host almost 20 more. The cost of transmitting radio channels through FM is also eight times higher than the cost of DAB transmission, the ministry reports.


DAB has been available in Norway since 1995. DAB+, an updated form of DAB, was made available in 2007. According to the Ministry of Culture, it will be up to radio broadcasters to choose between DAB and DAB+ transmissions, although it is likely that by 2017, most broadcasting in the country will be in DAB+.


Several other countries in Europe and Southeast Asia are also considering a national move to DAB, but no other country has confirmed a timeline, Radio.no reports.


In 2017, Norway will be first country to shut down FM radio | The Verge
 
gopher

gopher

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Never heard of this stuff before - are there radios in the USA that use that type of format? Or will regular radios be able to use this new system??
 
gopher

gopher

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^ I am!

But also not very technologically in tune with what is going on nowadays. Hopefully, if such a radio exists somewhere it is readily affordable and easy to operate.
 
IdRatherBeSkiing

IdRatherBeSkiing

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May 28, 2007
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gopher said:
Never heard of this stuff before - are there radios in the USA that use that type of format? Or will regular radios be able to use this new system??
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The USA has HD Radio -- a format that really never took off. Basically because all you get on it is the same sucky FM stations you get without it. SXM is all digital. But reality is most people listen to their iPhones now.
 
bill barilko

bill barilko

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Mar 4, 2009
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"Digitization will also greatly improve the emergency preparedness system, facilitate increased competition and offer new opportunities for innovation and development."
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IdRatherBeSkiing said:
The USA has HD Radio -- a format that really never took off. Basically because all you get on it is the same sucky FM stations you get without it.
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You mean someone somewhere is lying about all this?
 
MHz

MHz

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Considering the benefits of upgrading to satellite radio it should have been done some time ago. I would assume the listener would choose what channel he listened to. The owner of a company I used to work for loved the 'business channel' and he was pretty wealthy, being a bit on the cheap side probably had more to do with it than he was extra smart as they are the writers rather than being a reader.

Sal said:
the more things change, the more they stay the same
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Here I was looking forward to getting an FM mike and a spy scanner to find out what channel the guy in front of me is listening to and then I could broadcast my own 'person ad' which is an evaluation of his driving skills.

taxslave said:
So the whole point is to make a few million radios obsolete overnight and force everyone to buy new improved models.
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More like you not wanting to 'move on with the rest of the crowd' and running FM cost $60M/yr. CBC North got shut down once Sat TV and mobile phones came around. Today they can video conference with the whole family if they want. That doesn't mean AM or FM wouldn't be the first step forward for the people along the Moscow-Peking rail

Just wait till your home and office is wired up to the equal of OnStar. (if you think it keeps track of an $80k pickup you are right imagine how much chatter goes on when the machine is in the range of $250k and$1M as it is for 'heavy equipment'. For example at 10,000hrs it is brought in and 100 flexible high pressure lines are changed no matter what as it is a 'kit'. The machine is then good for another 10,000 hrs so it doesn't break while working as that would be $10,000hr as other machines would also get shut down. It would keep the voyeurs at home so silver lining and all.
 
Kreskin

Kreskin

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Feb 23, 2006
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taxslave said:
So the whole point is to make a few million radios obsolete overnight and force everyone to buy new improved models.
Click to expand...
Yes, and your iradio will need frequent operating system upgrades to be able to download the new versions of the old FM apps, causing your iradio device to run out of memory and require the purchase of another.
 
MHz

MHz

Time Out
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You're good. lol Now do the future of UHF and global shortwave for the masses with 30ft of heavy copper wire.
Murphy code rather than Mores code. I assume there is some way to connect to that through a mobile phone as frequencies are digital RO's rather than crank the dials. (get the emergency broadcasts that sometime come in as skipped airwaves.
 
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Tecumsehsbones

Tecumsehsbones

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In 20 years, all telecommunications media, wire, cable, fiber, radio, satellite (which is just a kind of radio) will be used for exactly one thing: a pipeline with the internet. I make much of my living advising people on how to profit from the transition.
 
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