DAB+ has yet to be officially approved for use in Spain, but Javier Sanchez, president of the Strategic Program Platforms EBU Digital Radio, reports that the standard would bring advantages to the largest country on the Iberian Peninsula.
Sanchez emphasizes that DAB+ uses one-third of the spectrum that DAB uses to broadcast a program, which allows for stations to use the remaining two-thirds to multiply business capability. As a result, he says making the switch to DAB+ could lead to the creation of at least 48 new programs for Spanish radio.
There are currently 18 programs in Spain broadcasting via DAB and he points out that these programs would be expected to be able to transmit via DAB+, if and when the switch to a DAB+ standard is approved.