DAB Thread

00s anorak

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712691#Comment_121712691

The geezers who were behind Freedab now have license for a legit Minimux up in Northern Ireland www.ulstermux.co.uk

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712691#Comment_121712691

I was just wondering the same.

FMSCAN.org doesn't list anything on DAB / DAB+ in Ireland anymore.

There was, up until a couple of months, always a small mux in Dublin. The signal was weak, but it was there.

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712691#Comment_121712691

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121804659#Comment_121804659

I saw something on another thread about the operator behind FreeDAB giving up on that and applying for some kind of license elsewhere - Northern Ireland I think. I had read previously that the FreeDAB had been raided by the authorities.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121804701#Comment_121804701

Did anybody ever pick up the BBC DAB Mux from Wales in Dublin? Maybe on the odd or other day with tropo conditions? Just wondering?

WHL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121804737#Comment_121804737

I have picked up UK DAB here in Cork city when conditions are good and sometimes on a telescopic whip. Not sure what location it was coming from though

vswr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121804737#Comment_121804737

You can pick up NI transmitters now problem through the year with a directional antenna from Dublin. On days of better conditions, you can get the NI TX's in the car in North Dublin.... tropo conditions could be anywhere, there are TX's littered across Isle of Man, Wales and the West Country in the UK. You will get an idea which TX you're on by which BBC local station you can select (BBC Radio Ulster for NI channels, Radio Wales, Radio Cornwall etc....)

waywill1966

I've picked up DAB from NI in Collooney Co Sligo recently,Greatest Hits radio loud and clear!

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waywill1966

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121806700#Comment_121806700

Nobody was aware of it and it wasnt promoted here unlike the BBC who pushed hard on it 20 years ago!

tinytobe

I am wondering, why the Republic of Ireland is still so stubbornly against DAB+? The annual cost of transmission of an Ireland-wide multiplex isn't that expensive plus the choice is bigger. All new cars do have DAB+ radios built in, as a standard.

Even in Austria, the country which held a strict state run radio and TV monopoly until 1995 ( radio was limited to 4 nationwide stations only ) will introduce another two country-wide multiplexes from some time this year, in addition to the existing one.

France is rolling out the Metropolitan 1 and 2 multiplex continuously.

At the same time in Ireland the stubborn opinion "this ship has sailed" and "now it's too late" still persists.

It's sad, when one thinks of it.

Lord Nelson

No matter how many times the question is raised, the answer remains the same. The raison d’etre of the BAI or whatever they’re called this week, is to protect the monopoly of the media conglomerates and preserve the status quo. The regulator is neither progressive nor pro active, in fact one wonders what purpose they serve at all?

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881626#Comment_121881626

To keep innovation out of Irish radio, make sure that what is on offer stays, and tell others it's a good choice whilst badmouthing DAB+ as a bad technology "we don't need".

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881517#Comment_121881517

The sadest thing are people with comments an attitudes like yours. This never lead to anything new and better.

lertsnim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881283#Comment_121881283

Norway with a similar population seem to be doing ok with it too so the small market excuse isn't valid.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881283#Comment_121881283

why the Republic of Ireland is still so stubbornly against DAB+?

Nobody is against it. But at the same time, nobody is particularly for it, either.

It needs someone with deep pockets to come in and build the network, provide the content and (most importantly) raise public awareness of it, and absolutely no one is willing to do that.

There's just no cost-benefit argument to be made for it, and there's definitely no argument for spending millions upon millions of taxpayer money on it.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121881517#Comment_121881517

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121882283#Comment_121882283

actually, it's more that nobody can do it even if they are willing to do it as there are no licenses available to operate a mux and station on a full time basis.

you will not be given one if you try and apply.

there is a cost benefit argument to be made for it as the costs of DAB transmission are a lot lower then fm even with more transmitters required, more stations can be fitted and ultimately the argument for the no longer sustainable high expensivity high regulation model we have is finally put to bed.

either way, whatever the outcome, no reason for the current situation where there is an effective prohibition on the use of the technology to remain, that should be removed regardless especially as the regulator now have more staff to do what exactly.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121884074#Comment_121884074

Again, the idea that there is anyone out there who wants to do this is completely unproven, that has only ever been claimed by re-reg posters who come on, go on a big rant and then either get banned or disappear.

It's pointless arguing about what should or could be done when there is no one who actually wants to do it.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121884146#Comment_121884146

I’m almost certain that @rogue-entity has expressed interest in the past, they’ve been around here for a long time.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121885710#Comment_121885710

I'm not trying to be a smart-arse, but unless that poster is a senior exec in a major broadcaster, then it's not really relevant.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121884146#Comment_121884146

what you have stated is very different to what i stated.

again, there is no evidence too show that there is no-one who wants to operate DAB in ireland, the fact is regardless of whether there is or there isn't, they can't do so.

they are prohibited, they cannnot get and will not get licenses.

it is those in favour of the current situation whether it be the BAI or whatever they are called this week, or the existing stations to prove the argument for the current situation and show and prove why their argument is correct and why things should remain as they are.

so far, going on the arguments of those trying to do that, that argument is not being successfully shown, and of course simply getting one's way is not proof of anything.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121889830#Comment_121889830

well it is relevant, because thankfully in the modern world major broadcasters aren't thee only broadcasters any more.

in grown up countries, there are major and small broadcasters, all who are just as valid as the other, as it should be.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121892482#Comment_121892482

I'm not interested in a political debate about whether this is a grown up country, there are plenty of developed countries that do not have any DAB service.

What you're saying is that there is a poster on boards.ie who has the resources and motivation to make DAB a success in Ireland, if only the regulator would get out of the way. That's a multi-year undertaking that will require tens of millions of euro and will never generate a return on investment.

OK.

beachhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058328721/dab-banned-in-ireland

As far as I am aware DAB radio never took off in Ireland.It is not banned.It has brief existence here but never successful.As stated earlier I think this is a pure out and out rant for some reason.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121893455#Comment_121893455

It's not de jure banned, but it is de facto banned because there's no legal way for anyone to even give it a try. Broadcast radio in Ireland is a closed shop and it seems the media commission are happy to keep it that way. Their draconian requirements, such as the 20% speech content, are another barrier to entry.

RTE only had it in the major urban areas and hardly promoted it. When times got tough, it was a low-hanging fruit they could cut.

beachhead

Denis O'Brien wouldn't agree with the closed shop comment.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121893428#Comment_121893428

that would be that poster's problem, not mine or yours, what they do with their money is none of my business.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121893581#Comment_121893581

maybe so, but if that is indeed what he thinks he would be wrong.

but to be fair, he's not involved in irish radio now and hasn't been for a few years.

beachhead

He sold out the business not long ago.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121893650#Comment_121893650

What a bizarre post.

Again. There is nobody who has both the means and the desire to do this. No-one.

beachhead

No demand anymore for DAB stations based in the Republic.But Lidl and Aldi do like to push their DAB radios here.