The DRM Consortium (Digital Radio Mondiale) is an international not-for-profit organisation composed of broadcasters, network providers, transmitter and receiver manufacturers, universities, broadcasting unions and research Institutes. DRM Consortium was set up some 20 years ago with the initially with the objective of “digitising” the AM broadcast bands up to 30MHz (long, medium and short-wave). In 2011 ITU recommended the extension of the DRM system to the VHF bands. The Consortium’s Aim and Objective is to make DRM standard not only respected and accepted but also widely known with all its features and benefits shared across all frequency bands and taken on board at local, regional, national, and international level.
DRM is the universal, openly, ITU-recommended standardised digital broadcasting system for all broadcasting frequencies, including the AM bands (LW, MW, SW), as well as VHF Bands I, II (FM band) and III. The standard has been adopted in several countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia, South Africa and is on air on all continents, with around half the world population in the incidence of a DRM signal – and is being tested and ready for roll out in other parts of the world like Africa, Latin America and other Asian countries.
The open, spectrum and energy efficient DRM standard on short, medium, and long wave up to 30 MHz provides for the efficient coverage in large areas with at least FM-like audio quality, while significantly reducing power consumption. DRM in the FM & VHF bands above 30 MHz enables flexible local and regional broadcaster-controlled services in half the bandwidth of a single analogue FM signal. Each DRM transmission has up to 3 stereo audio programmes plus multimedia components.
The DRM Consortium was recognised with an award by ITU for its outstanding contribution to the Telecommunications sector over the past years and has signed the EBU Smart Radio Memorandum that promotes access to free to air radio on all devices. It has around 100 members on all continents including national DRM platforms in Germany, South Africa, India, Indonesia and Brazil.
For joining the Consortium and more information and DRM updates please visit www.drm.org or write to projectoffice@drm.org.
