OSLO�Despite a long and heated debate in Parliament, and much criticism, there wasnota majority vote in favor of postponing the upcoming sun-setting of the national FM stations in Norway.The Labor party was not willing to support proposals from either the Progress Party or the Center Party, according toradionytt.no.�
The debate in Parliament revolved around the security and preparedness topics. �Afterreports from the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Fisheries, many members of parliament felt that safety and preparedness are sufficiently safeguarded with DAB, according to the same article. There was, in the end, majority support for a proposal in Parliament to follow the process closely.�
Even so, there was a hail of criticism against the process.�Several representatives pointed out that many listeners have complained that it is too expensive to replace all their radios and that those who have bought DAB radios do not get reception.�Transport Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen told that DAB covers 99.7% of the population, and about 86% of the area of the country, more than FM coverage now in place.
So, the shutdown of the national FMs will go ahead as planned, at least for now. The local FM stations throughout Norway will remain on-air till 2022.��
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