Australian transition to digital radio

The Australian commercial radio industry is frustrated because it still has to wait for the Government to make a decision about the transition of analoque to digital technology. This sounds familiar in the Netherlands, where we had to wait for years about the same issue.

The industry's battle with the Government began last October when the Australian Broadcasting Authority announced plans for digital radio trials, which opened the spectrum to newcomers. The future of radio stations becomes uncertain if the transition doesn't meet the following conditions:
- existing operators gaining free access to the digital spectrum on the L-Band;
- a reasonable simulcast period (a 20-year period with reviews at 10 and 15 years);
- a ban on new entrants for at least 10 years.
DMG Radio chief executive Paul Thompson, whose group owns the Nova stations, said the industry was "surprised and seriously taken aback" that the Government had not made any commitment. "I think we expected a more supportive and enthusiastic response by the Government but it's simply not there," he said.
(The Australian, 22 July 2004)

These conditions aren't reasonable conditions. These are the conditions of an industry protecting their current position in broadcasting. But the existing radio stations can't demand there will be no options for new competitors. Digital radio began to take off in the UK, not because of the CD-quality, but because of the introduction of quite a lot ofnew digital-only radiostations. Simply replication of today's analoque radio formats on to digital doesn't make the public to buy digital radio sets.

You can't deny the fact that incumbent radio broadcasters have the right to protect their own interests. Therefore, the Australian Government should start negotiations instead of asking the industry what it wants. This will be far more productive than the current process of policy making, in which the Goverment thinks it only has to facility what the industry demands.