BERN, Switzerland — Switzerland is on its way to being the second country in the world (after Norway) to discontinue the analog FM broadcasts on VHF.
At the end of 2017, around 3.5 million DAB+ devices were in operation in Swiss households and vehicles, 600,000 more than a year before. More than one million cars are now able to receive DAB+, and 85% of all new vehicles are equipped with DAB+ radios as standard equipment. The use of digital radio programs (via DAB+, TV networks and the Internet) increased from 54% to 61% during 2017.
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The Swiss Federal Office of Communications recently announced a four-year information campaign on DAB+ (from 2019) so that the population can be prepared in time for the switch from VHF to DAB+. The goal is to further increase the number of DAB+ radio receivers in homes and vehicles, according to schwiezmagazin.ch.
The campaign was recently advertised on the simap.ch procurement platform, and is scheduled to start this autumn. The budget of 5.5 million Swiss francs will be financed from the reception fees and the new fee for radio and television, which will be charged from 2019 onwards.
