Norway first country to switch off FM radio

[webfact 78,295]

Norway first country to switch off FM radio

Robert Hackwill

 

 

OSLO: -- Norway has become the first country in the world to begin switching off its FM radio network.

 

For the moment the scheme applies only to northern Nordland, but the whole country will be digital by the end of the year.

 

The government says DAB radio will save money, allow more broadcasters, and sound better, but that is only if people can hear it.

 

“New products will be introduced onto the market over the next few months, they will have tactile buttons and a text-to-speech function. This means that what’s on the display will be read out loud,” said the Norwegian Media Authority’s Line Langnes.

 

Critics say that while FM programmes in mountainous Norway need many transmitters and is costly, reception at the launch was poor, and especially elderly people, particularly dependent on the radio, with first-generation DAB sets will have to upgrade to DAB+ devices. Two point three million car owners will have no DAB in their vehicles, either. Many fishermen are also said to be ill-equipped for the changeover.

 

One newspaper opinion poll revealed two-thirds of the population think the government is moving too fast.

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2017-01-12

[thaibeachlovers 32,826]

Once more a cabal of so called democratic politicians,  but actually dictators, forces people to pay more to continue receiving the service they already are happy with.

Happened in my country when they forced people to pay extra to receive tv when they cancelled analogue services and went digital.

No doubt those same dictators in many governments are planning to implement the cashless society as the perfect means to have absolute power over the citizens.

[BuaBS 3,411]

If only they would stop killing whales !!

[GinBoy2 8,163]

I'm actually surprised anyone still listens to 'radio' of any kind anymore. With internet radio offering thousands of choices, and with 4G networks being pretty ubiquitous, it almost seems a technology, even a digital one, rooted in the last century

[Khon Kaen Dave 2,765]

How would this affect a car radio?

[HerbalEd 2,888]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Once more a cabal of so called democratic politicians,  but actually dictators, forces people to pay more to continue receiving the service they already are happy with.

Happened in my country when they forced people to pay extra to receive tv when they cancelled analogue services and went digital.

No doubt those same dictators in many governments are planning to implement the cashless society as the perfect means to have absolute power over the citizens.

Dictators? Hyperbolic much?

[3NUMBAS 1,751]

In the UK radio stations can't afford to use Dab in some cases already and have moved to net radio only..

[Carib 2,099]

1 hour ago, Khon Kaen Dave said:

How would this affect a car radio?

 

I will be very silent ones you cross the Norwegian border....

[up-country_sinclair 2,900]

 

[Yahooka 944]

8 hours ago, BuaBS said:

If only they would stop killing whales !!

 

Stop your non-sense.The Norwegian whale hunt is fully sustainable !!

[Yahooka 944]

3 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

In the UK radio stations can't afford to use Dab in some cases already and have moved to net radio only..

 

Yes and as a Norwegian I feel that the whole DAB debate is just a big step sideways.Personally I haven`t listened to FM radio for the last 3 years,all my radio listening is done via satelite TV distribution or internet.And with the  rapidly increasingly speed and cheaper data packages from cellphone providers,I usually listens on radio in my car with those.

[balo 12,640]

11 hours ago, BuaBS said:

If only they would stop killing whales !!

 

Whale meat is delicious , you should try it. And we only kill whales that are not in danger of getting erased from the planet. 

 

 

[balo 12,640]

Net radio is the future , not so sure about DAB. Most people will only use their smart phones anyway .  I listen to any radio station on my bluetooth speakers. 

 

 

[thaibeachlovers 32,826]

19 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

I'm actually surprised anyone still listens to 'radio' of any kind anymore. With internet radio offering thousands of choices, and with 4G networks being pretty ubiquitous, it almost seems a technology, even a digital one, rooted in the last century

This might be news to you, but millions of people don't have access to the internet. I only get it intermittently. Am I to be condemned to be without a radio service because of that?

 

[thaibeachlovers 32,826]

8 hours ago, balo said:

Net radio is the future , not so sure about DAB. Most people will only use their smart phones anyway .  I listen to any radio station on my bluetooth speakers. 

 

 

Don't have my own internet access and don't have a smart phone. Like so many now, some think that the whole world is about them.