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With everything being digital nowadays, accurately referring to the digital broadcasting standards that define the technical specifications for transmitting digital broadcast signals is crucial.
If you are familiar with OTT, IP, ISN, DVB, ATAC, ISDB, DRM, DAB/DAB+, HD, CDR, not to mention the ever-present AI, you are worthy of a Ph.D!
These broadcast standard labels are important because they define clear specifications for different broadcasting equipment and software, enabling the delivery of clear and reliable signals, without which there would be no listeners. However, the meaning of these letters might be understood differently depending on context.
Confusion about the distinctions between DSB and DAB might serve some in the short term, but African regulators, governments and local industries must be informed appropriately.
HD Radio is the proprietary audio broadcasting standard used in the United States, but it can also refer to anything “high-definition,” and what isn’t, nowadays?
DRM — Digital Radio Mondiale — is a global, open, all-frequency audio broadcasting standard with its trademark registered in countries worldwide. However, the acronym is also frequently used for digital rights management.
Additionally, there is a universal ITU label that covers most of the TV and radio acronyms, known as digital sound broadcasting (DSB). This is referenced in ITU-R recommendation BS.1114-7, where DAB is system A and DRM is system G.
A unitary direction
However, in Africa, DSB has a different meaning. In 2021, South Africa’s communications regulator, ICASA, introduced DSB to mean a combination of DRM in all broadcast frequency bands above and below 30 MHz, as well as DAB/DAB+. The idea was to introduce DRM and DAB alongside existing analog radio services (FM and AM-medium wave) to achieve universal service and access for all and to allow the introduction of new entrants into the industry. It is well known that DRM can be used in HF (shortwave), AM (on medium wave), and VHF Bands I, II (FM, the most widely used globally), and III. DAB is a purely local digital system that can be introduced in Band III when terrestrial television vacates the band. This is still not the case in South Africa and other African countries.
Photo: DRM South Africa Group
South Africa’s two-standard combination is a good option, as it covers practically all existing radio frequency bands and allows the rollout of two open and tested standards that are complementary.
The DSB model used in South Africa was then adopted and recommended by various African bodies, including the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which comprises 16 member states, the Communications Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa (CRASA), and the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), and provided a unitary direction for all African countries.
However, the DSB model of DRM and DAB remains a recommendation, and each African country can decide how to implement it. Some have already stated that, considering their less developed FM sector and the slower progress towards TV digitization, DRM alone is sufficient to offer total country coverage with the additional services required. They point to essential services like emergency warnings, distance, e-learning (demonstrated by DRM as a first in the Gambia) without the need for internet and multilingual simulcasting, all with spectral and energy efficiencies.
Confusion about distinctions
Africa faces significant infrastructure challenges. Recently, several regulators have started engaging with radio digitization, but here’s the snag: what is in a name? Some African experts, regulators and ministries have started discussing DAB (a single standard) when they mean DSB (two standards: DRM and DAB).
Recently, Abdul Aleem Gamza, general manager of Voice of the Cape in Cape Town, South Africa, called for bold innovation and strategic collaboration to ensure radio remains relevant and impactful. He believed radio was at a critical juncture and risked becoming irrelevant if it remained analog, and said he sees a future with FM, DAB, interactivity and personalized content. But did he mean DAB or DSB?
DAB may be what Cape Verde, a small country, needs. But what about large countries like Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia, with vast rural areas? They cannot be covered by DAB alone — the infrastructural costs would be prohibitive. Neither of these countries has the capacity to construct an extensive DAB+ multiplex infrastructure, as seen in Norway or Australia. Meanwhile, using DRM in medium wave, shortwave, and FM — with analog and digital simulcasting as a transition option — can guarantee all the advantages of digital radio and the excellent quality of transmissions in any frequency band.
Confusion about the distinctions between DSB and DAB might serve some in the short term, but African regulators, governments and local industries must be informed appropriately. They must each evaluate their own country’s spectral situation, infrastructure, broadcasting and receiver costs, which the population will ultimately bear.
Following and mimicking Europe, merely listening to presentations or participating in a couple of workshops is insufficient for making an informed decision. African specialists are beginning to familiarize themselves with the characteristics and benefits of each standard. Their information needs to be perfectly accurate, and politicians must listen to them so that DSB (DRM and DAB) becomes a reality or, at the very least, “digital radio” for Africa’s avid users.
The author is chairman of the DRM Consortium.
