O DAB, cada vez mais britânico (bem e mal)

Os sinais são evidentes:

«UK media regulator Ofcom today kicked off the race for the UK's second national digital radio multiplex. The license will allow the winning bidder run up to 10 national digital radio stations for a period of 12 years. The spectrum being auctioned can also be used for a range of other services, such as mobile television, said Ofcom.» (AFX News Limited, Ofcom to auction second national digital radio license
12.01.06, 8:27 AM ET)

«The RadioScape RSC03 is a complete DAB/FM clock radio subsystem that only requires an external DC power supply, speaker, LCD display, button board, and enclosure to complete the product. The need for a motherboard is eliminated as the power supply and audio amplifiers are fully integrated into the subsystem. This reduces the manufacturing steps to just one assembly run. Its construction and compact form factor makes it suitable for many enclosure designs.»

Mas nem todos positivos:

«(...) Many British listeners - especially aficionados of classical music stations - claim that DAB sounds worse than FM radio. The problem for broadcasters is that quality costs money and they are under pressure to make savings. They must balance the importance of sound quality against the cost of providing new services. BBC engineers originally estimated that 256 kbit/s was about right for a high quality stereo broadcast signal. But in the end they only had enough bandwidth to provide five stereo services at 192 kbit/s and two mono services at 96 kbit/s. Some commercial stations are even managing to run services at 48 kbit/s, which is roughly AM quality. On the plus side, this means more choice, which apparently is what the vast majority of listeners want. Londoners, for example, can choose between more than 50 DAB services, many of which are not available in either AM or FM. Consequently, there are more DAB radios in Britain than anywhere else in the world. An obvious solution would be to upgrade to a more efficient codec, but the UK is paying the price for all its early success with digital radio. British DAB uses a relatively inefficient MPEG-1 Layer II codec, although the World DMB Forum (formerly the World DAB Forum) is promoting AAC+ .» (fonte: «The future of radio»)