In my opinion, it is simply ridiculous that they are consulting on FM being switched off in around a decade's time and yet they haven't even consulted on what should happen now that DAB has adopted the AAC+ codec. So my submission to the consultation concentrates on the two issues that they fail to mention. My consultation submission can be downloaded, in case anybody would like to read it.

The main points I make are that it would be better to introduce stations using AAC+ as soon as possible – the reason I'm in favour of this happening as soon as possible is because it will bring forward the time when MP2 services can be switched off entirely, which will allow audio quality to be improved, and it will increase the amount of choice in the meantime. I've also written an article about the subject of the UK switching over to AAC+ on DAB, where the issues are dealt with in greater detail.

I also make the point that the audio quality is nowhere near good enough on DAB at the moment because DAB sounds a lot worse than FM, and it is unacceptable that DAB provides audio quality that is lower than the system it is meant to replace. Also because the switch to AAC+ vastly reduces transmission costs for the broadcasters then this should be used as an opportunity to raise the audio quality standards on DAB.

I've also written a related document about a proposal for a new mobile broadcasting system to be designed for the FM band once FM is switched off:

Ofcom's consultation

The Ofcom consultation document can be downloaded from here, and the intrustions for how to respond are here.

In summary, what the consultation document says is this:

• In 10 years' time they forecast that 90% of all radio listening will be via digital platforms, so they think it should then be okay to think about switching FM off.
• Most of the document is about the commercial radio industry being in a bit of a financial crisis, because advertising money is moving away from commercial radio and towards the Internet, and young people are deserting radio in droves, because they basically don't like adverts, lowest common denominator playlists or inane DJs.
• Because of the financial problems that commercial radio faces, they're consulting on whether it would to relax the regulation of commercial radio in future, especially once digital listening becomes forms the majority of all listening.
• At the end of the document they propose that the FM band might be used for 11 DAB channels, 4 DVB-H channels or lots of DRM+ channels once FM has been switched off.

If you don't think the audio quality is good enough on DAB at the moment, and that you would be against Ofcom switching off FM without ensuring that the audio quality on DAB is as good as or preferably better than on FM, I would urge you to send your views to Ofcom about this. Also, because the earlier AAC+ stations are introduced on DAB the sooner it will be that we will be able to receive better audio quality – especially on the BBC stations – and more stations on DAB then I would also urge you to suggest that Ofcom should allow this, or at the very least consult the public about it.
 
 

Add a comment: Name (optional) Email (will not be published) (required) Subject (optional) Write the word radio in this box (HTML markup is allowed)

 
 

Bookmark with:
Digg	del.icio.us	Reddit	Facebook
Google	Stumbleupon	Slashdot