DRM

Digital Radio MondialeTM (DRM) is the universal, openly standardised digital broadcasting system for all broadcasting frequencies up to 174MHz, including LW, MW, SW, band I and II (FM band).

Universal Standardisation

DRM: The World's Only open standard, Universally Standardised Digital Radio System
DRM is the world's only open standard, digital system for short-wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave with the ability to use existing frequencies and bandwidth across the globe. While DRM currently covers the broadcasting bands below 30 MHz, the DRM consortium voted in March 2005 to begin the process of extending the system to the broadcasting bands up to 174 MHz. The design, development and testing phases are expected to be completed by 2009.

DRM's success in standardization and regulation with the IEC, ITU and ETSI is outlined below.

ETSI

July 2004: The revised version of the DRM System Specification has been published by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). May 2003: ETSI elevated its September 2001 Technical Specification (TS) of the DRM system to a higher level, ETSI Standard (ES). The new document is published as ETSI ES 201 980 V1.2.2 (2003-4), Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); System Specification. Simultaneously, ETSI published the datacasting standard for DRM as ETSI TS 101 968 V1.1.1 (2003-04), Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM); Data applications directory. "The ETSI ES further endorses the DRM system as a universal standard that is applicable in markets worldwide, in alignment with the recently-achieved International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) standard," says Lindsay Cornell of DRM Member the BBC, who managed the drafting process for the ETSI standards and the IEC version. "In combination, these two ETSI standards describe DRM's capabilities for both audio and data, opening up the world of wide-area datacasting as well as high quality audio broadcasting."
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IEC

January, 2003: The International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) gave DRM its highest stamp of approval - International Standard. The IEC voted in favor of the DRM standard IEC 62272-1 Ed. 1: Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) - Part 1: System Specification. The IEC had published its DRM Publicly Available Specification (PAS 62272-1) in 2002.

ITU

In 2002, a change in Rules of Procedure by the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations Board (RRB) cleared the regulatory path for broadcasters who want to use the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) system for the medium-wave/AM and long-wave frequency bands in Regions 1 and 3. (Regions 1 and 3 include Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia/New Zealand.) The procedural change allows for digital modulation on a provisional basis to any broadcaster who wants to use current assignments in these AM bands for digital broadcasting in Regions 1 and 3. While this procedural change does not cover Region 2 (North and South America), DRM anticipates decisions that will include Region 2 in the future. Digital broadcasts must conform to the same protection levels safeguarding other broadcasts (both analogue and digital) already established for analogue broadcasts in international agreements.