ITALY
The consortium EuroDAB Italy in the last few months of 2016 optimized the existing DAB coverage, particularly on motorways in Veneto and Friuli to the A4 and A27 and has made continuous listening on the move possible along the A1.� In addition, new facilities have been brought up in Valle d’Aosta. As for 2017 improvements, the plan is to provide coverage for areas of Tuscany, Western Piedmont and Sardinia, according todday.it.
The DAB Italian consortium during 2016 expanded its coverage in several areas: Bassano del Grappa; improvements in the provinces of Vicenza, Padua and Venice; enhanced indoor listening in Turin; enhanced coverage in the Varese province, Brunico and part of Ahrntal in South Tyrol; improvements in Siena with central Tuscany and Chianti; increased coverage on the Tyrrhenian coast coverage between San Vincenzo, Follonica and Grosseto; Umbria, in the province of Perugia and Spoleto;� enlargement in the Marche region with the cities of Pesaro and Urbino, Puglia Foggia, Taranto and Brindisi, according to the same article.�
For 2017 the DAB Italian consortium anticipates upgrades along the Adriatic coast between Ancona and Pescara, Syracuse, Messina and Palermo, Reggio Calabria.� It will also further improve the coverage of other areas of Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto.
AUSTRIA
The Austrian communications authority KommAustria has published documents ahead of an anticipated tender call for further DAB multiplexes there.� The documents explain the process by which the agency will determine if applicants can �demonstrate the legally required credibility of their financial requirements for the establishment and operation of a DAB + network� and clarifies the selection process, according to thispress release.� KommAustria also identifies the specific criteria in the selection procedure with regard to the timetable for establishing a network of stations and the provision of the population.� Applicants, for example, should be able to provide coverage to at least 50% of the population initially, and after a three-year period, 75% of the population.
�The tendering process now underway is also based on the results of a survey of interests undertaken by KommAustria in 2016 under existing and potential radio broadcasters and the need for the introduction of DAB +,� according to the same press release. It was shown that a nationwide DAB + multiplex with 15 programs would be sufficient. There is interest in several local and / or regional multiplexes as well.�
UK
A new piece of legislation could make small-scale DAB to become a permanent fixture in UK
broadcasting.
The Broadcasting Bill�(Radio Multiplex Services), introduced to Parliament by Kevin Foster, MP for Torbay, would create a power for the secretary of state to modify Part 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996 and Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003, creating a new licensing regime suitable for the new small-scale DAB multiplexes, according toDigital Radio UK.
The Bill will allow the ten trials taking place in the UK to remain on-air and facilitate the creation of additional small-scale multiplexes. Small-scale DAB is seen as a cheaper way of distributing radio stations, particularly community stations across a much smaller area than traditional local DAB multiplexes.
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