Digital Radio for Ireland: Competing Options, Public Expectations - BCI

1.2.2 Which
is
the
most
important
and
why?
A
 range
 of
 responses
 were
 offered
 to
 the
 open
 question
 ‘which
 is
 the
 most
 important
 and
 why?’
reflecting
 a
 more
 general
 uncertainty
 regarding
 the
 future
 of
 some
 of
 these
 technologies.
 The
 DAB
family
of
technologies
(DAB,
DAB+,
DMB)
was
cited
for
reasons
of
availability
of
receivers,
quality
and
increased
capacity:
DAB/DAB+
as
the
primary
platform
of
the
future
‐
free
to
air,
universally
available,
mobile
and
digital.
[RTE]
DAB+
‐
it
is
the
future
of
Audio
Broadcasting
[South
East
Radio]
DAB
and
DAB
+
in
the
immediate
future,
as
there
are
a
lot
of
receivers
already
available
in
UK
owned
retail
stores
such
as
Argos,
Homebase
Dixons/
currys
etc.
[Total
Broadcasting
Consultants
Ltd.]
DAB
is
very
important
for
the
amount
of
choice
and
bespoke
programming
it
can
offer
listeners.
DAB
+
could
be
even
better
if
it
wasn’t
for
the
compatibility
issues
with
existing
receivers
and
the
broadcast
codec
etc.
The
other
long‐term
benefit
of
DAB
is
the
cost
savings
in
transmission
for
the
industry
and
an
assumed
saving
in
environmental
impact
of
analogue
transmission.
[Spin
103.8
Dublin]
DAB
only
because
it
appears
to
be
the
format
chosen
but
I
have
concerns
that
there
is
already
a
better
system
already
available
DAB+
This
is
not
back
compatible
so
the
obvious
concern
is
that
we
are
going
ahead
with
old
technology
around
since
1985.
[Tipp
FM]
DAB+.

DAB
is
now
outdated
and,
even
though
used
in
the
UK,
must
not
be
considered,
irrespective
of
what
the
UK
has.
DAB+,
while
not
back
compatible
with
DAB,
is
MUCH
more
efficient.

DAB+
can
also
provide
high
quality
audio
with
as
low
a
bit
rate
as
64kbit/s.
Reception
quality
will
also
be
more
robust
on
DAB+
than
on
DAB
due
to
the
addition
of
better
error
correction
coding
[Clare
FM]
DAB+.

A
new
broadcast
platform
that
"just
works"
is
needed.
Podcasting,
Streaming
etc
can
lack
user
friendliness.
Something
that
is
as
simple
as
FM
from
an
end
user
point‐of‐view
(an
'on'
button
and
a
volume
control
set‐up)
is
vital.
[Star
Broadcasting
Ltd
/
Country
Mix
106.8]
With
regards
to
the
technologies
involved
we
believe
that
key
to
the
advancement
of
digital
radio
broadcasting
in
Ireland
..will
be
the
future
proofing
of
the
industry
through
the
implementation
of
one
or
more
advanced
terrestrial
digital
platforms
such
as
DAB+,
DMB
/
DRM
and
DVB‐H
rather
than
the
retrofitting
of
the
already
outmoded
and
outdated
DAB
solution
suggested.
[Communicorp
Group
Limited]
18