France’s Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) is continuing to expand the use of digital terrestrial radio (DAB/DAB+) to a number of cities and regions in the country.
With DAB+ already present in Paris, Marseille and Nice, the CSA is now adding digital radio to regional cities Lille, Strasbourg and Lyon.
Radio stations that wish to apply for a DAB+ license in Lille, Strasbourg and Lyon have until July 19, with the start of broadcasts expected to take place in 2017. CSA says that up to 39 stations may be allowed to add DAB+ in those three cities.
Other regional cities will have the opportunity to add DAB+ capabilities as well. These include Colmar, Haguenau, Mulhouse, and Sélestat in the east; Bourg-en-Bresse, Bourgoin-Jallieu, Vienne, Villefranche-sur-Saône and Tarare in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region; Mâcon in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region; and Arras, Béthune, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, Cambrai, Douai, Lens as well as Maubeuge and Valenciennes in the Hauts-de-France region.
These cities will also have a deadline of July 19, but CSA will cap the number of stations to 26.
