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from the elites-with-flawed-data-making-choices dept.
El Reg reports
With digital reaching its audience targets, the government set a 2017 date for the death of analogue FM radio in [Norway].
[...]However, the Norwegian Local Radio Association disputes the communications ministry's figure, pointing instead to Norwegian Government Statistical Bureau data that "listening to DAB radio is presently limited to 19% on a daily basis."
In an e-mail sent to Vulture South [El Reg's Australian operation], the association says the Minister of Culture's announcement swept up DVB-T and Internet radio to claim that "digital listening" had hit the 50 per cent target that triggers an FM switch-off.
The association also notes that an all-DAB nation would provide a lot less service to motoring tourists without digital radios in their cars. "This proposed change means that most visitors will not be able to listen to national channels or public radio for emergency alerts, traffic or other important information", the group said in a media release e-mailed to El Reg. It claims that a focus on large broadcasters would leave FM investments by community radio stranded.
The local broadcasters are backed by the Progress Party, a partner in the coalition government in Norway, [as well as by] the Greens.
Related: Norway to be First Nation to Switch Off National Analog FM Stations
(Score: 3, Informative) by VLM on Tuesday April 28 2015, @05:03PM
are AM frequencies useless?
Basically, yes. Other than local-ish regional-ish low bandwidth voice to an existing installed base of hardware.
Nobody is going to sell wireless internet bandwidth at 1 MHz RF freq etc. Useless for any other for-profit service. Theoretically if there were some weird shortage of aircraft NDB beacons or dGPS transmitters (which there are not) then the AM BCB would be a tolerable location for expansion. WRT non-profit services I'm sure the ham radio operators would find it scientifically intriguing to take the band over.
There is a slight power advantage. To get about the same land coverage you need maybe 5x to 10x the power going from AM to FM so there are financial issues. On the other end the hideous transmitting antenna for AM freqs isn't a problem anymore.