In addition to new receiver announcements, the DRM Consortium highlighted at IBC 2023 new commitments to the Digital Radio Mondiale digital radio standard from Indonesia and China.
In Indonesia, the Komunikasi dan Informatika ministry issued Ministerial Regulation No. 5 of 2023, which authorizes the simulcasting of analog and DRM digital radio in the 526.5–1606.5 kHz medium-wave bands and in VHF band II, 87.5–108 MHz. In VHF band III, the new regulation authorizes the use of DRM in the 174–202 MHz portion of the band and DAB+ in 202–230 MHz.
There is no requirement to simulcast analog and digital signals, and there is no analog shut-off plan in the regulation.
Responding to the announcement, Forum Diskusi Radio Indonesia President Harliantara Harley Prayudha told the newspaper Lensa Nusantara that the new regulation benefits Indonesian radio broadcasters. “In the current digital era, we need to adapt to technological developments, including the world of radio broadcasting which is currently slowly but surely transforming towards digital,” he said.
In China, a joint recommendation from the National Radio and Television Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Market Regulation called for strengthening in-car radio reception in part by accelerating the rollout of DRM for domestic AM broadcasters.
The recommendation calls for accelerated integration and expansion of AM networks using the DRM digital radio standard, as well as for promoting the use of analog/digital simulcasts.
Finally, Pakistan Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi addressed the International Conference on Radio Resource Control and Management at IBC 2023, highlighting Radio Pakistan’s digitization efforts, which includes a transition to DRM digital broadcasting in all wavebands.
In late July, Radio Pakistan broke ground on a massive DRM project, including a new 1,000 kW transmitter that will extend the broadcaster’s reach from the Mediterranean to the Pacific.
