text: Norway is taking a nose dive into the digital world — at least with radio. The Norwegian government will be the first country to completely transition to digital radio, and it’ll start when it switches off FM radio channels on January 11, at exactly at 11:11:11 AM local time. 
   
   One of the main reasons the government is transitioning now is to save money: It’s cheaper to transmit via DAB (digital audio broadcasting) than FM, by about eight times. Going fully digital will save the country an estimated 200 million Norwegian Krone a year, which is about $23.5 million. Other benefits from transition fully into digital include more channels and better radio quality. 
   
   “Radio digitization will open the door to a far greater range of radio channels, benefiting listeners across the country,” Norway’s minister of culture Thorhild Widvey, said in a press release. “Digitization will also greatly improve the emergency preparedness system, facilitate increased competition and offer new opportunities for innovation and development.” 
   
   Norway’s DAB network already has 25 national radio channels and can support 20 more, whereas FM radio currently only has five channels. Critics who oppose the transition say that by killing the remaining national FM radio channels, drivers might miss out on emergency alerts if they don’t upgrade to DAB or aren’t within the area of receiving a local FM radio signal — which will continue to air programming despite the national FM switch-off. Many citizens are against the switch. 
   
   “We are simply not ready for this yet,” Ib Thomsen, an MP from the Progress party, a partner in Norway’s Conservative-led government, told Reuters. “There are 2m cars on Norwegian roads that don’t have DAB receivers, and millions of radios in Norwegian homes will stop working when the FM net is switched off. So there is definitely a safety concern.” 
   
   Those who don’t already have a car with digital radio will have to purchase a digital adaptor for FM car radios, which cost about 1,500 Norwegian Krones —about $176, so it’s definitely an investment. 
   
   The Norwegian government has been planning this transition for years and made it official in 2015, which gave Norwegians some time to adapt and install digital radio in their cars and homes. Radio.no, which covers everything about the digital shift, went on tour around the country prior to the transition to inform people about DAB and guide them through installing adaptors or knowing how to access digital radio via the Internet. 
   
   The criteria for the DAB network transition consisted of covering at least 90 percent of the population, at least half of all listeners had to tune into digital radio daily and that solutions for radio reception in cars was affordable and technically satisfactory. 
   
   Norway is not the only country who is heading in the direction of all digital radio. Britain, Switzerland and Denmark are following in its footsteps and are looking to transition by 2020. Other countries in Southeast Asia are also looking into fully transitioning to DAB. 
   
   The U.S. never got DAB — it stayed in Canada — but instead implemented HD radio, which does not stand for high-definition radio but just a brand name for its owner iBiquity Digital Corporation. HD Radio transmits on the same frequency as AM and FM radio, but it’ll emit higher quality sound if received by new radio. Old radios will just ignore the HD signal and transmit the original, more staticky signal. 
   
   Norway hopes to complete the switch-off with the northernmost counties of Troms and Finnmark by Dec. 13, 2017. ||||| Switch to digital-only radio is opposed by majority of population and will be watched closely by other countries 
   
   Norway will next week become the first nation to start switching off its FM radio network, 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 fear many people may miss emergency alerts that until now have been broadcast via FM radio. Of particular concern are the 2m 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, 17% are in favour and the rest are undecided, according to an opinion poll published by the daily Dagbladet last month. 
   
   Nevertheless, parliament has given the final go-ahead for the move, swayed by the fact that digital networks can carry more channels. 
   
   Six of the best DAB radios Read more 
   
   Switzerland plans a similar move from 2020, and Britain and Denmark are among those also considering such a switch. A smooth transition to DAB, which is already beamed across Norway, could encourage these countries to move ahead. 
   
   The shutdown of the FM (frequency modulation) network, introduced in the 1950s, will begin in the northern city of Bodø on 11 January. By the end of the year, all national FM broadcasts will cease. 
   
   “We’re the first country to switch off FM but there are several countries going in the same direction,” said Ole Jørgen Torvmark, head of Digital Radio Norway, set up by the national broadcasters NRK and P4 to help the transition. 
   
   Torvmark said cars were the biggest challenge: a good digital adaptor for an FM car radio cost 1,500 Norwegian kroner (£140), he said. 
   
   Ib Thomsen, an MP from the Progress party, a partner in Norway’s Conservative-led government, was scathing about the move. “We are simply not ready for this yet,” he told Reuters. 
   
   “There are 2m cars on Norwegian roads that don’t have DAB receivers, and millions of radios in Norwegian homes will stop working when the FM net is switched off. So there is definitely a safety concern.” 
   
   For the same cost, digital radio allows for eight times as many stations as FM, and is said to have clearer sound and less hiss. The current system of parallel FM and digital networks, each of which costs about 250m kroner, saps investment in programmes. 
   
   Britain plans to review the need for a switchover once digital listening reaches 50%. On current trends that could be by the end of 2017, a Digital Radio UK spokeswoman said. ||||| 66 percent of Norwegians oppose the forced switch to DAB. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / Scanpix 
   
   In just a matter of weeks, Norway will tune out FM radio for good and become the world's first country to switch over to digital-only transmissions. 
   
   Norway's government has decided that the nation's FM airwaves will fall silent from January 11, 2017, starting in Nordland and gradually moving south. 
   
   After nearly a century of the analogue system, which revolutionised music listening with high-fidelity stereo sound compared to mono AM transmissions, the changeover to Digital Audio Broadcasting's advanced version (DAB+) will render the country's almost eight million radio sets obsolete. 
   
   Although it has been in the works for years, most Norwegians aren’t pleased with the move. Two out of three are opposed to the switchover, according to an Ipsos survey released by Dagbladet on Wednesday. Only 17 percent support sounding the death knell for FM radio. 
   
   Svein Larsen, the chairman of the Norwegian Local Radio Federation (Norsk lokalradioforbund) said he fully relates to the resistance to what he believes is a completely unnecessary move. 
   
   “The opposition is not difficult to understand. It is obviously difficult to argue the necessity to turn off the FM network and replace it with DAB. When one thinks of [public broadcaster] NRK’s intensive campaign in favour of DAB, the numbers are surprisingly low,” Larsen said of the only 17 percent of Norwegians who support the transition. 
   
   “But Norway has made its decision. For practical and economic reasons it is too late to turn back now,” he said. 
   
   Norway’s transition to DAB radio will be watched closely by several other countries considering the move, notably Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and South Korea. 
   
   "Nobody's ever done this before and it's quite a nervous time for everyone," James Cridland, a British-based radio broadcasting consultant told AFP last year. "Norway is testing this out for all of us.” 
   
   DAB radio will offer well over 20 crystal-clear channels in Norway when the switchover takes effect, with more expected to follow.
target: – Norway is entering the history books with a radio-related first: The country is shutting down its FM radio network in favor of digital-only transmissions, reports the Local. The country will begin cutting its FM network on Wednesday, starting with the northern city of Bodo, before moving south. All five national channels on FM will stop broadcasting by the end of the year, per Vocativ, though some local stations will continue FM broadcasts until 2022. The plan has been in place for years as digital radio costs Norway the same as the FM network, $29 million, but allows for eight times more radio stations. But residents aren't impressed. A poll shows 66% of Norwegians oppose the move, compared to 17% in favor and 17% undecided, reports Reuters. Among the critics are the owners of 2 million vehicles without digital audio broadcasting receivers who will need a $170 digital adapter and those who fear emergency alerts usually broadcast on FM radio will go unheard. "We are simply not ready for this yet," says a member of the ruling coalition government, noting "millions" of in-home radios will be rendered useless. "But Norway has made its decision," says the chairman of the Norwegian Local Radio Federation. "For practical and economic reasons it is too late to turn back now." Norway will now be watched closely by the UK, South Korea, Sweden, and Denmark, all considering the switch. Switzerland plans to switch to digital in 2020. (Norway is home to the world's slowest TV show.)