Norway has become the world’s first country to commence switching off its FM frequency broadcasting.
Beginning in the north of the country yesterday, Norway’s gradual yet concerted elimination of the analogue frequency will continue throughout the year on a county-by-county basis. Oslo will become digital-only in September, and the whole process is set to be complete by December 13th.
The switch was voted in by Norway’s government in 2011, and since then digital radio sales have shot up, increasing by over 200% between 2012-2013 alone.
Officials are calling the changeover “part of the modernisation of Norway” and the country’s Culture Ministry estimate the process will save around £19 million a year.
Speaking about the benefits of switching from analogue to digital, University of Leeds lecturer Stephen Lax told New Scientist: ” Norway has many mountains and valleys that the robust nature of DAB can help with. Additionally, its FM radio infrastructure was coming to the end of its life, so they would’ve needed to either replace it or fully commit to DAB anyway… DAB can run at lower power levels so the infrastructure electricity bills are lower. Also the sound quality is better.”
