Three concessions for digital radio stations put out to tender

The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) has invited tenders for three radio licenses for German-speaking Switzerland. The purpose is to expand the range of new terrestrial radio stations based on T-DAB (terrestrial Digital Audio Broadcasting) technology. The deadline for applications is the end of October 2006.
At the end of March, the Federal Council set the course for digital radio in Switzerland and gave the green light for the realization of a second terrestrial platform in German-speaking Switzerland (see
Digital radio receives a second platform). SRG already offers a T-DAB program in large parts of Switzerland.
The following conditions apply to the licenses now being put out to tender: They should relate to German-speaking Switzerland and not already be broadcast terrestrially via FM. The three licenses will also be based on the new Radio and Television Act (RTVA). Accordingly, the licenses will only be issued after the RTVA comes into force - probably in April 2007.

The T-DAB platform is a frequency channel with a transmission rate of 1.5 Mbps. Radio programs require a net data rate of at least 128 kbit/s. The aim of the new licenses is not to broadcast as many radio stations as possible, but to broadcast the most attractive and varied overall offering possible, OFCOM announced on Tuesday. In theory, up to 11 radio stations can be broadcast on the platform.

The text of the call for proposals and the instructions for submitting applications are available at
www.bakom.admin.ch.