11. Analogue switch-off

The switching off of analogue services is the ultimate event in the adoption process. This is a very significant step which allows broadcasters to reap the financial benefits of digital-only transmissions.

11.1. Benefits and barriers

ASO has now been completed by Norway. Switzerland is in the final stages of planning and expected to complete ASO by 2024 and there are serious considerations by other countries.

ASO ensures that the TCO of the transmission network is minimised. Many studies have shown that the cost of operating an FM network is significantly more than that of a DAB+ service, even when the broadcasters deliver more content / services than in analogue alone. See [15] , [16] and [17]

Apart from the lower operating costs, we see from the ASO experience in Norway that the increased services and their availability is driving an increase in radio listening and hence value for both commercial radio broadcasters and PSBs.

The environmental impacts of DAB are summarised in the WorldDAB factsheet [18]. The data in that document was produced prior to the recent dramatic upturn in energy prices and hence the environmental impact of moving to DAB+ is even more now than stated in that document.

We note, however, that there are some broadcasters who do not wish to pursue DAB+ for reasons such as:

• They believe that delivering more content will simply dilute their existing services and not result in any additional overall revenue after expenses. These are often broadcasters operating in solus markets, that is they are the only commercial broadcaster operating in a specific region or licence area.

• They believe that by deploying DAB+ the opportunities for other broadcasters will be greater than those for themselves and hence want to maintain the status quo. This is sometimes the case when a broadcaster has a dominant commercial radio share in a country.

• The broadcasters believe that IP streaming will dominate radio soon, so it is a waste of time deploying DAB+ and they are better focusing on IP delivery alone.

While it is not essential to plan for ASO during the rollout phase of DAB+, an indication that there will be an eventual switchover will encourage all stakeholders to move forward. We also note that some countries will be more capable of making the shift quicker than others, usually due to size and population. The quicker the ASO occurs, the quicker the reduced ongoing cost of service provision can be achieved.