PARIS�France�s CSA has announced its intention to begin a public consultation of the subject of digital radio by the end of this month, according to cbnews.fr.
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The purpose of the consultation is to determine which areas in France should be next to gain digital radio facilities.� Paris, Marseilles, and Nice are the only cities in which digital radio transmissions are regularly available. Cities under consideration include Nantes, Lyon, Strasbourg, Lille, Bethune-Douai-Lens, Valenciennes, Mulhouse, Metz, Nancy, Bayonne, Le Havre, Brest, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Toulouse Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, Montpellier and Toulon Rouen.
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Tenders will be issued for the areas chosen by this September, with the intention that the new stations will go on-air by September of 2016. Optimistic, theSIRTI (the Inter-professional Union of Independent Radio and Television) says “the new areas, which will be added to the existing offerings in Paris, Marseilles and Nice, will allow us to cross the threshold of 20% of the population coverage for digital radio, which will ensure the rapid spread of digital radio in the receivers sold in France,” reports lalettre.pro.
