After the release of the first licenses for regular DAB+ services in Italy during the summer, December saw the first transmitters go online in the Trentino region. This area has been selected by the Italian Authority as the first roll out area for regular digital radio services.
Club DAB Italia switched on two new transmitters which guarantee coverage of the cities of Trento (Paganella tx site) and Bolzano (Penegal tx site) and surrounding areas and roads. Two more transmitters to cover Rovereto and the rest of the A22 highway in the Trentino region will follow soon.
Club DAB Italia is also working on the extension of the test network in Alto Adige, Veneto and Lombardy which will soon guarantee continuous coverage from the Austrian border to Bologna along the A22 highway and to Turin along the A4 highway with an additional eight transmitters. Also the most important transmitter for Lombardy (Valcava) will be upgraded to extend coverage area and increase reception quality.
This rollout will guarantee excellent indoor reception in a number of urban areas, including the cities of Brixten, Meran, Bozen, Trento, Rovereto, Verona, Milan and Turin. It is engineered to guarantee continuous coverage of the major highways in northern Italy allowing listeners to stay tuned to their favourite DAB station during their car trips.
In the Trentino region digital radio services are also provided by Rai, the public service, and DBTAA, a consortium of local broadcasters, which broadcast also from the Paganella tx site. A second local multiplex is also expected to go on air over the next months, which means that around 40 digital radio programs will soon be available in this area, provided by four different multiplexes.
In the adjacent Alto Adige region digital radio services are already provided by an extensive DAB network operated by RAS – Rundfunk Anstalt suedtirol which broadcasts public and private stations both in Band III and L Band. It is expected that other areas for digital radio roll out will be announced by the Italian regulator soon, allowing for the extension of the national networks and the launch of new local multiplexes during the coming year.
About Club DAB Italia: Club DAB Italia s.c.p.a. is a consortium of enterprises which is authorised to operate a national network provider. The Consortium is a holder of a broadcasting license for the pilot area Trentino and for a trial license for all the regions in Italy where the analogue TV switch-off process has been completed.
Hanns Wolter
Project Manager, Club DAB Italia
Chair of WorldDMB Regulatory and Spectrum Committee