Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Saturday January 07 2017, @03:35AM   Printer-friendly
from the more-haste-less-satisfaction dept.

Norway is set to become the first nation to start switching off its FM radio network next week, in a risky and unpopular leap to digital technology that will be closely watched by other countries considering whether to follow suit.

Critics say the government is rushing the move and many people may miss warnings on emergencies that have until now been broadcast via the radio. Of particular concern are the two million cars on Norway's roads that are not equipped with digital audio broadcasting (DAB) receivers, they say.

Sixty-six per cent of Norwegians oppose switching off FM, with just 17 per cent in favour and the rest undecided, according to an opinion poll published by the daily Dagbladet last month.

Nevertheless, parliament gave the final go-ahead for the move last month, swayed by the fact that digital networks can carry more radio channels.

Should there be a push to switch off FM radio in order to 'persuade' users to upgrade their receiving equipment? Or should the change be implemented much more slowly to enable FM radios to be replaced as they age? How would you do it?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @04:19AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @04:19AM (#450605)

    Is there even any use to switch to DAB now? With cheap mobile internet connections one can listen to any streaming station in the world.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Insightful=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   1  
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @04:38AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @04:38AM (#450610)

    Switch off FM radio and sell the spectrum to Telenor instead for use by mobile phones. Of course at such low frequency your data rate will be so slow you'll see everyone on social media complaining about their speedtests and why can't it be faster.

  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday January 07 2017, @05:03AM

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Saturday January 07 2017, @05:03AM (#450616)

    When one has data coverage, one can stream stations digitally.

    We have 4 cars, they range from a 1991 through a 2002. The 1999 truck's radio died and I replaced it with a $100 bluetooth / digital capable unit (cost me a $50 install) - it's kinda weird getting in the old truck and having better technology than the 2002 Mercedes S class.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 2) by nethead on Saturday January 07 2017, @05:59AM

      by nethead (4970) <joe@nethead.com> on Saturday January 07 2017, @05:59AM (#450628) Homepage

      I hear that. My used 98 Volvo V70 came with BT (even speaker phone) and I listen to podcasts off my company supplied iPhone all the time. Took our 2001 Volvo S60 on a road trip to South Dakota from the Seattle area with the factory unit and had to deal with the BT to FM thing. Good in theory but sucks when you go long distances and keep having to find clear FM channels.

      So the old V70 wagon is chosen as the daily driver.

      --
      How did my SN UID end up over 3 times my /. UID?
  • (Score: 2) by nethead on Saturday January 07 2017, @05:37AM

    by nethead (4970) <joe@nethead.com> on Saturday January 07 2017, @05:37AM (#450624) Homepage

    With cheap mobile internet connections ...

    You East Coast people are funny.

    --
    How did my SN UID end up over 3 times my /. UID?
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @06:21AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 07 2017, @06:21AM (#450630)

      cheap where?.... Oh and is it reliable? Oh can it work when I drive between two cities or visit my family? Is it still cheap?

    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday January 07 2017, @07:53PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Saturday January 07 2017, @07:53PM (#450816) Homepage Journal

      LOL, I'm in Illinois paying $42 per month for unlimited everything including internet. There are more companies like that, and they're nation wide.

      If you live alone and use AT&T or one of the other big guys, you're a fool.

      Also, there's an app called "Next Radio" that will let you listen to local FM broadcasts on Apple and Android without using your data for streaming, it plays the station's analog broadcast signal. I'm waiting for an app that will let me watch broadcast TV on my phone.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
      • (Score: 1) by lars on Sunday January 08 2017, @05:11PM

        by lars (4376) on Sunday January 08 2017, @05:11PM (#451080)

        Next Radio does not work in Canada for those wondering.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Saturday January 07 2017, @07:37AM

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Saturday January 07 2017, @07:37AM (#450643) Journal

    Yes. Internet streaming eats into your data cap. FM radio doesn't. Also in my experience, there are far more places without mobile connectivity than without radio reception.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday January 07 2017, @07:59PM

      by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Saturday January 07 2017, @07:59PM (#450818) Homepage Journal

      I don't have a data cap, and I have yet to have gone anywhere where there's no cell signal at all. Maybe in that valley in West Virginia where the telescope is, but there's no broadcast TV or radio there, either.

      --
      mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 1) by purple_cobra on Saturday January 07 2017, @11:18PM

    by purple_cobra (1435) on Saturday January 07 2017, @11:18PM (#450876)

    A friend of a friend has a small pirate radio station and knows a little about the ins and outs of DAB and DAB+ (I think; could be DAB2). His take was that DAB is shit and a waste of time, and that it was stillborn as the DAB+ standard had already been solidified before a single DAB station was on-air in the UK. There was no killer app for DAB so it was never a must-have feature on audio equipment, which in turn means that DAB/DAB+ is only ever a minor concern to the audio equipment-buying punter. Coverage was pretty poor for a good while too, nothing like as ubiquitous as FM.
    To add further nails to the coffin, licences for broadcasting DAB were absolutely ridiculous prices, an order of magnitude over and above FM. A couple of stations I used to listen to had DAB services for ~12 months - presumably as the first year had a lower cost licence - then canned them as the listening figures were so poor.
    One of those - Team Rock - never really recovered, though their business plan seemed optimistic in the first place (radio station + magazines + web site in a niche market, trying to sell subscriptions to a "premium" secton of the web site); they went into administration late last year.