OSLO�Nearly 60 percent of the population of Norway has DAB radios one year prior to the scheduled beginning of the end of FM service in that country, according to the general manager of the Digital radio Norway, Ole J�rgen Torvmark.
The shutdown of FM service is scheduled to start in the Nordland part of the country. Sixty-three percent of the population in that region already own digital radios, compared to 58 percent nationwide.�
Clearly many Norwegians will need to replace their FM radios over the next year.� Aswe reportedlast year, many of those who don�t will still be able to listen to FM stations from Sweden, which cover about 60 percent of the population of Norway.� Sweden has no plans for shutting down its FM transmissions.�If a listener still wants to hear NRK or P4 in a car after 2017 he or she must either purchase a car DAB radio, replace the FM radio with a DAB radio, or purchase an adapter.�According toNAF, approximately 2 million cars need some kind of adapter solution. NAF tested six retro-fit adapters for cars without DAB radio built-in.�The test shows that �it is not easy to get functioning DAB fitted into the vehicle…the result of the test is not very encouraging,� reportsradionytt.no.
Bauer Media is short-circuiting the time line for the FM shutdown.� Their stations in Norway known as Radio Rock and Kiss have had their FM transmitters shut down already, and are now available only by digital means�streaming and DAB+.
Also playing a role in Bauer�s shutdown of the two stations (inOslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger) is the fact that Bauer is now saving money on transmission costs; instead of paying for the FM transmissions, Bauer is now paying only for access on the nationwide DAB+ network.� In addition, Bauer was sharing some of the FM frequencies with other stations, according toradio.nl. �
