Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Vodacom’s Maziv deal gets makeover ahead of crucial hearing

      18 July 2025

      Cut electricity prices for data centres: Andile Ngcaba

      18 July 2025

      Takealot taps Mr D to deliver toys, pet food and future growth

      18 July 2025

      ‘Oh, Ani!’: Elon’s edgy bot stirs ethical storm

      18 July 2025

      Trump U-turn on Nvidia spurs talk of grand bargain with China

      18 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Samsung’s bet on folding phones faces major test

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      OpenAI to launch web browser in direct challenge to Google Chrome

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025
    • In-depth

      The 1940s visionary who imagined the Information Age

      14 July 2025

      MultiChoice is working on a wholesale overhaul of DStv

      10 July 2025

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | Samsung unveils significant new safety feature for Galaxy A-series phones

      16 July 2025

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025
    • Opinion

      A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

      15 July 2025

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Duncan McLeod » Digital radio to hit SA’s airwaves

    Digital radio to hit SA’s airwaves

    By Duncan McLeod21 July 2013
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Duncan-McLeod-180-profileSouth Africa is taking concrete steps towards introducing digital radio broadcasts using a standard known as DAB+, with a trial planned for 2014. The move will usher in greater competition in the radio sector, with digital eventually likely to replace the familiar FM and AM dials.

    Radio broadcasters, led by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Southern African Digital Broadcasting Association (Sadiba), are planning a trial network next year — it’s scheduled to be launched in February 2014 and to run for 12 months — to understand the complexities around the technology and how best it can be introduced commercially to South African audiences.

    State-owned signal distributor Sentech has agreed to provide the DAB+ signal free of charge to radio stations that want to participate in the trial, which will take place in Gauteng using high-powered transmitters on the Sentech tower in Brixton and on the Kameeldrift tower outside Pretoria.

    Industry players, including sector regulator Icasa, met at a high-level workshop in Johannesburg this week to discuss how the digital audio broadcasting (DAB) standard — and its successor, DAB+ — were introduced in markets around the world and how best to approach its introduction here.

    The country has been dabbling with DAB since the late 1990s, but hasn’t made much progress in introducing commercial services, mainly because the industry has been tied up in the migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television. But this week’s workshop, hosted at the SABC in Auckland Park, appears to have given fresh impetus to the process. “We should not wait for television [migration],” says Sadiba secretary Gerhard Petrick. “We have the momentum now and we should move with it.”

    DAB has been introduced in a number of countries around the world as a complement — at least for now — to the analogue FM and AM bands. Some countries, like Norway — which was the first country to launch a commercial DAB radio station — plan to switch off analogue radio broadcasts altogether.

    Jørn Jensen, president of the WorldDMB Forum, an industry body responsible for developing DAB, DAB+ and other digital broadcasting standards, told this week’s workshop that Norway plans to switch off the FM dial in 2017. Denmark has earmarked 2019 as its switch-off date.

    UK regulator Ofcom, meanwhile, is expected to make an announcement in December about its switchover plans. According to Jensen, 22m adults in Britain have access to DAB radio, with 94% of the population covered with digital radio signals.

    In Australia, 60% of the population is covered, with 1,6m people, or 12,6% of the population, listening on a DAB+ device each week, says Kathryn Brown, head of strategic development at industry group Commercial Radio Australia. She explains that improved sound quality, coupled with more radio stations for consumers to choose from, has driven adoption in Australia, although the country has not yet set a date to terminate FM broadcasts.

    Dave Cherry, who chairs the task group managing the planned NAB and Sadiba DAB+ trial, says South Africa faces a number of challenges in introducing digital radio, not least of which is the fact the migration to digital television is taking longer than expected.

    Ideally, broadcasters should use the trial — which will consist of up to 20 public service, commercial and community stations — to begin marketing digital radio to consumers ahead of a commercial launch at the end of the one-year trial period. However, because television broadcasters are still likely to be using the spectrum that has been set aside for commercial DAB+ radio when the trial ends, they can’t begin to market the technology yet. However, enthusiasts keen to check out digital radio during the trial period will still be able to buy DAB+ receivers and tune in. Those receivers, which currently cost US$20 and up, will work when digital radio is launched commercially.

    The DAB+ trial will use transmitters on Sentech's towers in Brixton in Johannesburg and Kameeldrift near Pretoria
    The DAB+ trial will use transmitters on Sentech’s towers in Brixton in Johannesburg, pictured, and Kameeldrift near Pretoria

    Cherry believes the introduction of DAB+ can’t come soon enough given that the FM dial is congested, especially in South Africa’s main urban centres. After television is migrated to digital, Icasa intends licensing two chunks of spectrum — called muxes — that will allow for up to 40 digital radio stations, opening the market substantially to new competition.

    Meanwhile, a separate trial is planned for another digital radio technology known as Digital Radio Mondiale, or DRM. If DAB+ is the replacement for FM, DRM can be seen as the successor to medium-wave broadcasts. The trial, says Cherry, will be separate from the DAB+ one. However, a big challenge facing DRM is that receivers, particularly for cars, are few and far between.

    Getting consumers to switch to digital radio is probably going to be the biggest challenge. Key here will be wider choice, especially since South Africa is likely to be far less aggressive in switching off the FM dial as countries in Europe have been.

    Still, it’s an exciting time for radio in South Africa and the development looks set to foster a more robust and competitive industry. What’s not to like?

    • Duncan McLeod is editor of TechCentral. Engage with him on Twitter
    • This column was first published in the Sunday Times


    Dave Cherry Duncan McLeod Gerhard Petrick Icasa Jørn Jensen NAB National Association of Broadcasters Ofcom Sadiba
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticlePule investigation ongoing: Hawks
    Next Article Shuttleworth judgment opens door: DA

    Related Posts

    EFF vows to stop Starlink from launching in South Africa

    11 July 2025

    Icasa publishes new draft regulations for digital TV

    8 July 2025

    Operators to decide 2G/3G shutdown timeline

    2 July 2025
    Company News

    Vertiv to acquire custom rack solutions manufacturer

    18 July 2025

    SA businesses embrace gen AI – but strategy and skills are lagging

    17 July 2025

    Ransomware in South Africa: the human factor behind the growing crisis

    16 July 2025
    Opinion

    A smarter approach to digital transformation in ICT distribution

    15 July 2025

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.