Sweden to Expand Digital Radio Use

The country that spawned Ikea is thinking about digital radio. After 18 months of consideration, the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on Digital Radio has proposed a gradual expansion of the Eureka-147 technology in Sweden. Of its report to the government, Peter Örn, director general of public broadcaster Swedish Radio, said, “It’s very constructive that a broad political majority want both Swedish Radio and the commercial stations to make the transition to digital radio. Now we hope that the government will support the proposal and parliament can pass the necessary legislation by the end of the year, so we can expand our digital broadcasts as early as 2005.”
The committee considered three alternatives: a rapid expansion of Eureka-147, continued test broadcasts, or abandoning digital radio transmissions. Since 1995, Swedish Radio has been conducting Sweden’s only test broadcasts of digital radio channels.
The proposal from the digital radio committee calls for a gradualexpansion of digital radio for both Swedish Radio and commercial radio. The broadcasters would determine the pace of expansion.
Today Swedish Radio claims its digital broadcasts reach an estimated 35% of Sweden’s population.