Digital audio broadcasting in Austria

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Logo digital audio broadcasting
Logo digital radio for radio transmission according to DAB standard

This article describes Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) in Austria .

From May 2015 to April 2018, a test operation was carried out in Vienna under the leadership of the Digitalradio Austria association , but without the participation of ORF or the nationwide private broadcaster Kronehit. This was put into regular operation in April 2018 as Cover II (local or regional) under the name CityMUX . The operator of the first regional DAB + multiplex in Vienna is RTG Radio Technikum GmbH.

Regular operation for coverage I (nationwide) started on May 28, 2019.

In addition, foreign providers use the proximity to Germany and Switzerland to broadcast their packages from Austrian territory close to the border.

DAB was developed in the EU's Eureka 147 project between 1987 and 2000. The DAB standard is available online from the European standardization organization ETSI under the code EN 300 401 .

Development in Austria

DAB

The ORF and the 2,005 outsourced ORS operated on an experimental basis between January 1999 and end-2008 DAB stations in Vienna and Tyrol.

In Vienna, between January 1999 and the end of 2008 , the programs Ö1 , Radio Wien , Ö3 and FM4 were broadcast via three transmitters at Bisamberg , Donaustadt power station and at the ORF center in Küniglberg in Block 12B .

In the Tyrolean Lower Inn Valley, between September 2000 and the end of 2008, the programs Ö1, Radio Tirol , Ö3 and FM4 were broadcast via the Patscherkofel and Innsbruck 2 - Seegrube transmitters in block 12C in order to enable continuous DAB reception from Germany to Italy.

However, DAB has not yet been able to establish itself in Austria due to a lack of demand from program organizers. The broadcasting and telecommunications regulatory GmbH (RTR) wrote between 2006 and 2009 on its website, the broadcasting would run "[...] but practically closed to the public." By the end of 2008, the program broadcast by the ORS ended on DAB.

From 2000 to the end of 2008, the ORS digitally broadcast the following radio programs in Vienna and Innsbruck:

DAB +

In May 2012, the ORS was granted approval for the limited DAB Plus test operation on Channel 6A on the Pfänder for the period from October 1, 2012 to October 1, 2013, but not used.

Due to the topography and the proximity to neighboring countries, foreign DAB-Plus multiplexes have already been approved for this transmission system:

The broadcasting and telecommunications regulatory GmbH (RTR) had called in June 2012 for expressions of interest.

In August 2013 it was announced that a DAB + pilot test would start in Vienna - subject to the approval of the regulatory authority Communication Authority Austria . The plan is to distribute it via a single-frequency network with two transmitter locations, the more powerful of the two locations being operated with 10 kW. The broadcasters participating in this test are not yet known. On the occasion of a presentation on the 40th anniversary of the Südtiroler Rundfunk-Anstalt Südtirol , it was announced that the Patscherkofel transmitter near Innsbruck would also broadcast DAB + programs as part of the Euregio project .

A test operation in the DAB + standard should have taken place on April 15, 2015. 15 programs were expected to start broadcasting in the Vienna test ensemble. Before broadcasting began, however, the two largest providers, ORF and KroneHit , left the project again. On May 21, 2015, test operation was started with 15 radio programs; the feared delay with a reduced number of stations did not occur.

The ORF justifies the exit with, in the opinion of the media authority KommAustria, inapplicable legal concerns, KroneHit criticizes the marketing of DAB + as a “frontal attack on FM”. KroneHit managing director Ernst Swoboda sees web-based radio as “the future-oriented digital radio”, which should only be supplemented by DAB + when the Internet has largely replaced VHF radio and expensive VHF broadcasting must be replaced by the cheaper DAB +. The managing director of the Digital Radio Austria Association Gernot Fischer suspects that the two VHF “top dogs” fear for their unique position, which they have in large parts of Austria.

Since May 28, 2015, digital radio reception in the DAB + system has been possible in Vienna as part of a test operation. ORS is the license holder and operates the multiplex for the program bouquet and two transmitter locations in Vienna in partnership with the “Verein Digitalradio Österreich”. ORS Tech Blog, May 28, 2015

On January 31, 2017, the Multiplexes I (coverage nationwide) and II (regional or local) were put out to tender by KommAustria. Eleven providers in Vienna and the surrounding area should start broadcasting via DAB + on April 3, 2018 at the earliest. The programs, which are mostly not yet available in Vienna via VHF, offer verbal and informational contributions as well as special music offers for various interests. A nationwide multiplex operated by ORS received approval in August 2018 and is expected to reach up to 83% of the Austrian population in three expansion phases from May 28, 2019.

Multiplex in Vienna

On April 3, 2018, the “CityMUX Vienna II” with 12.6 kW went into operation at the Wien 9 transmitter (DC Tower in Vienna's Donau-City) on channel 11C. During the pilot phase (channel 11D was used temporarily before a frequency coordination process), a second location was in operation, also in Vienna. The operator of the multiplex is RTG Radio Technikum GmbH, the transmission system is operated by Österreichische Rundfunksender GmbH & Co KG . DAB + is marketed in Austria through the Digital Radio Austria association.

After the nationwide DAB Multipex Austria started operating, some program providers moved there. The following programs belong to the ensemble or have been newly approved:

  • Technikum City - 120 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 Stereo
  • City 23 - 72 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 stereo
  • Radio Arabella - 72 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 stereo
  • Megaradio - 72 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 stereo
  • NOW Radio - 72 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 Stereo
  • Energy Wien - 72 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 stereo
  • Sout Al Khaleej - 72 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 Stereo
  • ARBÖ traffic radio - 72 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 stereo
  • My children's radio - 72 kbps DAB + / HE-AAC v1 stereo
  • High live radio
  • Vienna Hood Music
  • Radio fantasy
  • NJOY
  • Radio Sol

Nationwide multiplex

On May 28, 2019, the nationwide DAB + federal mux started in Austria. The transmitter network is set up in three steps. To start with, three transmitter systems will supply the greater Vienna area. There are also transmitters in Graz, Linz, Sonnwendstein and Pfänder. Around 60 percent of the Austrian population can receive the programs. The programs are transferred first

Further capacities are in the tender.

DAB + transmitter (nationwide multiplex) - DAB + Austria

Channel 5B 176.928MHz:


Channel 5D 180.064MHz:


Channel 6D 187.072MHz:

Channel 8A 195,936MHz:

Other digital technologies

Since December 2009, digital radio stations have been receivable in Austria, but initially in the DVB-T2 multiplexes A and F (Vienna, Lower Austria and Northern Burgenland with the radio programs Ö1, Hitradio Ö3, FM4, Radio Ö24, Radio Maria and the encrypted Kronehit) and DVB-T2 multiplex F Restösterreich ( Radio Maria Austria ) and C (Styria, but as a TV program). The broadcast of some stations via DVB-H was stopped in 2010. The reintroduction of DAB in the DAB + variant was initially not planned by the program providers at the beginning of 2011 due to the lack of convincing success reports from abroad.

Also, Internet radio is already established as a digital radio in Austria and is currently z. B. favored by KroneHit as a digital alternative to terrestrial VHF radio. Immediately after leaving the DAB + test project, KroneHit, Life Radio and Antenne Steiermark announced the establishment of the internet radio platform Radioplayer Austria . It is based on a British technology platform that was initiated there by the BBC and private broadcasters and is now distributed internationally. The platform competes here with streaming platforms introduced earlier, such as B. radio.de , with Austrian channels aimed at an Austrian audience.

See also

Web links

 Wikinews: Category: Digital Radio  - In The News

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ RTR - KOA 4.530 / 17-005. Retrieved October 3, 2018 .
  2. ↑ https://www.teltarif.de/dab-plus-oesterreich-bundesmux-sendestart/news/76784.html?page=all
  3. ↑ RTR - KOA 4.520 / 18-003. Retrieved October 3, 2018 .
  4. ↑ ETSI EN 300 401 V1.4.1 (2006-06) - Radio Broadcasting Systems; Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) to mobile, portable and fixed receivers (PDF file; 1.76 MB)
  5. ↑ a b Radio in Upper Austria - Everything digital? Steam radio, February 24, 2010.
  6. ↑ Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH: Introduction to digital radio. digitaler-rundfunk.at, accessed on December 28, 2009; Introduction to digital radio ( Memento of November 4, 2006 in the Internet Archive ); Introduction to digital radio ( Memento of April 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ ORS website: DAB pilot project and medium wave shutdown , December 16, 2008. Accessed on February 20, 2010.
  8. ↑ decision KOA 4.510 / 11-005 RTR, 2 May 2012 Design.
  9. ↑ decision KOA 1.004 / 17-013 RTR, August 10 2017th
  10. ↑ decision KOA 1.004 / 12-004 RTR, April 4, 2012 Design.
  11. ↑ Decision KOA 1.004 / 19-001 of the RTR, April 2, 2019.
  12. ↑ decision KOA / 18-008 1004 of RTR, July 2018 11.
  13. ↑ decision KOA 1.004 / 06-003 RTR, March 20 of 2006.
  14. ^ Decision KOA 1.004 / 12-010 of the RTR, November 16, 2012.
  15. ↑ Decision KOA 1.004 / 17-015 of the RTR, 10 August 2017.
  16. ↑ DAB + needs survey of June 1, 2012 by RTR (KOA 4.000 / 12-001).
  17. ^ Daniel Kähler - Radioszene.de: Pilot test: DAB + for Vienna before the end of this year. August 20, 2013, accessed August 31, 2013 .
  18. ↑ 40 years of broadcasting contracts. April 28, 2014, archived from the original on August 12, 2014 ; Retrieved August 12, 2014 .
  19. ↑ Michael Fuhr: Austria starts DAB + with German support. Telariff, March 15, 2015
  20. ↑ [1] rtr.at, May 8, 2015
  21. ↑ a b c Michael Fuhr: ORF and Kronehit endanger the start of DAB + in Austria with the withdrawal. Telariff, March 28, 2015
  22. ↑ Digital radio without ORF and Kronehit. Der Standard, March 24, 2015
  23. ↑ ORS blog DAB test operation Vienna
  24. ↑ RTR press release: Nationwide, regional and local: KommAustria is putting out radio frequencies for digital radio for the first time on January 31, 2017
  25. ↑ Media authority grants first license for regular digital radio operation - 11 DAB + radio programs start in 2018 in the greater Vienna area. KommAustria press release from December 15, 2017
  26. ↑ RTR - KOA 4.520 / 18-003. Retrieved October 3, 2018 .
  27. ↑ DAB Austria ensemble list at ukwtv.de, accessed on June 25, 2018
  28. ↑ Markus Weidner: Digital radio: Austria starts regular operation for DAB +. Teltariff, April 5, 2018
  29. ↑ Christopher Deppe: In Austria, the DAB + initiative is being launched by private individuals. Radio scene, Apr 10, 2018
  30. ↑ https://www.teltarif.de/dab-plus-oesterreich-bundesmux-sendestart/news/76784.html
  31. ↑ General Assembly of the Digital Platform Austria: More diversity in terrestrial television. rtr.at, February 15, 2011.
  32. ^ Radioplayer Austria. OTS press release with responsibility for the content of the three named organizers, March 25, 2015