18 May DRM present at the International Summit on Digital Broadcasting held in Nigeria
The International Summit on Digital Broadcasting held in Abuja, Nigeria, at the beginning of the month was presented by the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) and hosted by The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Radio Nigeria). This lively and informative industry event, the first for the West Africa region, was attended by over 200 executives. The summit and its 16 speakers provided TV and radio broadcasters, as well as media professionals, with crucial information and knowledge on the opportunities and challenges of the evolving digital broadcasting process. This was also a first because digital radio made it to the agenda and DRM was one of the highlights at such an important African event.
I had the pleasure to present the DRM technology, especially DRM30 (that is DRM for large areas) as a perfect tool to migrate radio broadcasting in Africa from analogue to digital radio. The challenge of cost-efficient DRM receivers was also debated during the event. I can confirm that especially the national broadcaster, Voice of Nigeria (VON) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (Radio Nigeria) were most supportive during the extensive panel discussions and announced their willingness to invest in DRM technology in the future. The Summit was informative and successful. It reinforced the growing interest of key African countries in digital radio.
Gerhard Filipp (Ampegon AG)