Danish Radio says everybody will need to buy new DAB receivers in 5 years

The leading Danish newspaper, Politiken, is quoting Paul Samsøe, the head of engineering from DR, which is the Danish equivalent of BBC Radio, as saying that, when asked whether owners of DAB receivers will have to replace their DAB radios in five years' time, Paul Samsøe replied:

"Yes - just like you'll also have to get a new television set and a new mobile phone."

For background information: Denmark is the only other country in the world apart from the UK where DAB has actually started selling — like in the UK, DAB has started selling only due to heavy advertising — so with someone like Paul Samsøe saying this, and taking into consideration that previously he's been a big supporter of the DAB system, it makes you wonder about whether everybody will have to buy new DAB receivers in the UK as well.

I have to say that it's to be welcomed that someone that has previously stuck up for DAB through thick and thin has come out and basically admitted that the current DAB system is on its way out and will be replaced by DABv2 or DMB or DVB-H or whichever of the modern digital broadcasting systems the countries that have yet to take the plunge into digital radio will adopt, but I have to say that it's surprising that he was so candid on the matter, and I've no doubt that the other DAB supporters, both in Denmark and the UK, will be furious with him admitting what he has.

The following is an English translation of the relevant sections of the article that someone has kindly translated for me (if you speak Danish, here's the full article in Danish):

"According to DR everything is fine with DAB in Denmark. DAB now has 700,000
listeners. But a number of countries have backed out on DAB - and for the
customers it might mean that they will have to scrap their DAB receivers in
5 years' time.

While there are tons of flat screens, loudspeakers, MP3-players and mobile
phones on show at the IFA in Berlin, it is difficult to find a DAB-radio.

Only if you look very hard will you be able so spot a few DAB-receivers
among the smaller producers of radio equipment, e.g. at the German Tivoli
Audio stand.

"Yes, there is not a lot of action in DAB. Actually it's only our Danish
distributor selling anything of it", says Marin Koch, Project Manager for
Tivoli Audio. He adds that unless something happens within the next 2 or 3
years, Tivoli Audio is going to stop producing DAB-radios.

Because despite DR claiming that everything's fine with DAB in
Denmark, the DAB technology hasn't caught on in the rest of the world – not
even in Denmark, where the standard was developed.

[Then some remarks about DAB = Dead and Burried - and something about the
situation in Germany, France, Finland and Sweden - as well as "England"
(sic) and Denmark.]

But not everybody is pleased with the solitary path that Denmark and England 
are taking regarding DAB.

"DAB may very well be ["døgnflue" = here today and gone tomorrow].
DAB will not exist in 5 or 10 years' time. More modern digital standards
will have taken over by then", says Stig Hartvig Nielsen who runs a consulting
company for Danish radio stations and who is a member of the board of
Directors at DR.

"DAB is really a deeply outdated technology, and it is a really a pity that
so much resources are put into marketing it as something which is new and
modern - when it really is deeply outdated".

To this Paul Samsøe replies:

"This is not a technology which has taken the world by storm like the DVD
did with television - but there is no alternative to DAB. There might be in
five years' time".

So - we'll have to replace our DAB-radios in five years from now?

"Yes - just like you'll also have to get a new television set and a new
mobile phone. Right now DAB is the only thing that works - and it'll be the
only thing that works for the next two or three years. And the idea of
waiting for new technologies that might come in the future - well, 
you will end up waiting for a damned long time".  [He used the Danish
swear word "sgu" - which can be roughly translated as "damned"].

One of the things that might replace DAB is the newer standard DMB which
besides radio can be used for television on for instance mobile phones. This
standard can utilise the current network of DAB transmitters and so the
money spent so far [on transmitters] is not wasted if it is decided to drop DAB
in 5 years' time.

When the network of DAB transmitters is fully extended the total cost will
be 90 million DKK (8.2 million pounds). In Germany the DAB transmitters are
already used to transmit television to mobile phones."

Despite the fact that he openly admits things that I wouldn't expect him to, I would take issue with him saying that DAB is the only system that works right now and that we'd be waiting for a "sgu" long time if we wanted to use a different system. For example, there have already been full commercial launches of both DVB-H and DMB mobile TV systems, and both of which can be used for digital radio  — indeed, I've been saying on this website for 2 - 3 years that these systems would have been a better choice of system to use for digital radio than the antiquated DAB system. And there's already DMB receivers being sold in Singapore that were specifically designed for receiving radio, and it would only take a matter of months to convert existing DAB receivers to, say, DMB, because all that is needed is a new circuit board to replace the old one — Radioscape's receiver modules, for instance, are all 'pin-compatible' with one another, so it literally would only mean taking out the DAB circuit board and placing another one in its place that can receive DMB.

At the end of the day, however, it's good to see the DAB supporters are now starting to finally admit that their beloved system is now on its way out — I just hope that the UK broadcasters will start looking at how to make the transition to DMB or DABv2 in a timely fashion so that listeners can then receive digital radio as it was supposed to be delivered in the first place, and not this ridiculous low-quality version that we receive today.

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