NEWS: GOVERNMENT RUSHES LEGISLATION REDUCING SPECTRUM FOR RADIO ON DAB MULTIPLEXES TO ENABLE BT 'MOVIO' TV SERVICE LAUNCH by GRANT

GODDARD

www.grantgoddard.co.uk September 2006

The government has approved the proposal by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport [DCMS] to reduce the amount of spectrum allocated to radio usage on DAB digital multiplexes from 80 to 70 per cent. The change in legislation was rushed through Parliament in the form of two Statutory Instruments (numbers 2130 and 2131) in time for BT Movio to launch its new mobile television service last week, an innovation that requires 30 per cent of the bandwidth available on Digital Ones national DAB multiplex. It appears that no government department issued a press release heralding the changes. A three-page statement that recently appeared on the DCMS web site (though dated June 2006) summarises the governments response to the consultation. It concluded that there was a general consensus that increasing the data limits to 30 per cent was about right, and that this is a logical development reflecting growing interest in providing enriched content to augment the audio experience. The DCMS document admitted that some respondents felt that a digital radio multiplex should be reserved for radio use, and that reducing the amount of bandwidth would reduce the quality of DAB radio broadcasts [see issue #744]. However, the government concluded that the use of some multiplex capacity for mobile TV would assist the take-up of DAB enabled services because the BT Movio trial showed that users spent more time listening to DAB radio than watching TV. Answering criticism that the change would distort competition and create a windfall gain for BT plc and the owner of the sole commercial national DAB multiplex, the DCMS said that it is true that Digital One and BT Movio could benefit from lower cost than their competitors by using DAB spectrum rather than other delivery technologies, but that any damage to competition is, in the longer term, minimal and would be more than offset by the benefits to consumers. GCap has already stated that it expects to earn 9m this year from the leasing of multiplex spectrum to BT Movio, considerably more than its earnings from its own digital radio stations.

[First published in 'The Radio Magazine' as 'DCMS Approves Less Radio On DAB', #753, 13 September 2006]

Grant Goddard is a media analyst / radio specialist / radio consultant with thirty years of experience in the broadcasting industry, having held senior management and consultancy roles within the commercial media sector in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. Details at http://www.grantgoddard.co.uk

News: Government Rushes Legislation Reducing Spectrum For Radio On DAB Multiplexes To Enable BT 'Movio' TV Service Launch page 2 2006 Grant Goddard