Sixty small-scale radio stations take to the air in UK Ofcom trials

Radio listeners in ten areas around the UK will benefit from new DAB digital stations as part of an UK Ofcom trial this summer.

UK Ofcom today announced that around 60 stations will begin broadcasting on digital radio for the first time using ‘small scale DAB’. This new approach could provide a more affordable way for smaller stations to broadcast on DAB digital radio.

Technology used for these trials is using mmbTools free open source software for DAB/DAB+ transmission that has first been developped by CRC in Canada and continued by Opendigitalradio association (see History).

ODR-mmbTools are currently used for regular small-scale DAB+ broadcast in Denmark (Kanalplus, using CRC-mmbtools), France (SDN Marseille), Switzerland (Digris Geneva, Zürich).

Digital Radio kits for UK trial, assembled by Rashid at OFCOM
Digital Radio kits for UK trial, assembled by Rashid at OFCOM