BERN � The Swiss Federal Council has extended VHF FM licenses; those set to expire in 2019 have extended until 2024. However, they also made the decision on Oct. 25�to facilitate a transition to DAB +. The decision confirms the plan for a Swiss FM shutdown between 2020-2024. DAB + will be the main distribution for radio from 2020, in parallel with FM radio, according to nyhetsrommet.no.
Since 2016, a majority of radio broadcasting in Switzerland has been by way of digital devices, such as DAB + receiver and mobile phones. 57% of radio broadcasting is now accounted for by digital devices, according to measurements made in the spring of 2017. And since February 2017, Swedish radio broadcasters and authorities have had the information campaign “Radio Zeith um” on the transition from FM to DAB +. The Swiss regulator Bakom says that 56 out of 57 FM radio channels of the public broadcaster SRG and private broadcasters can be received via DAB+, according to Telecompaper.com.
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