Just like analogue radio which has been regulated for yearS, digital radio will face the same conditions without any dramatic changes likely to be implemented. Whether you like it or not – regulation of digital radio and TV will remain.
It will continue to remain as regulation is needed from a technical point of view as it helps avoid interference between transmitters and ensures the best quality of services for listeners.
Regulation planning is like playing with dominoes. If changes are made in one country, this will have a knock on effect of the national plan in neighbouring countries, which will lead to inevitable re-planning of their regulation. Countries need to coordinate with their neighbours, otherwise problems can arise which requires independent arbitration.
A good time for cross border collaboration on regulation is the implementation of new market technologies such as digital radio. The coordination of rollout and switch over by all market players in a region is a solution to avoid disagreements. On an international level it is important that access to spectrum and space orbit is secured on an equal basis for all countries.
While it is assumed that governmental bodies and spectrum management agencies will work with our own interests at heart, this is not the case. International planning is such a complicated process that even nowadays with all the computers and modern technology it is not possible to undertake international planning without some simplifications. Therefore it is important for those who have an interest in spectrum allocation and management to make sure their voices are heard during the planning processes.
The big challenge for spectrum management is to calculate if two transmitters will interfere with each other. In most cases the terrain is ignored and as a result two transmitters either side of mountains are considered as interfering, even if experts know that this is not the case. While it is possible to take into account the influence of topography in simple cases of spectrum planning, it is impossible when taking the whole of Europe into account.
As a result international planning has been simplified to give information on what can and can not be achieved to national administrations. It is down to each of these national administrations to coordinate these details during processes of implementation.
National administrations derive their national plans from international plans but not every administration is working towards planning for a revised spectrum management plan. However when they do undertake this process it is vital to work with broadcasters.
This entry was posted on May 8, 2013 by WorldDAB in Asia Pacific, Benefits of Digital Radio, Digital Radio Rollout, Europe, Spectrum and Regulation.