Translate:
 

Brazil Parliamentarians visit DRM – 11th-14th July

Brazil Parliamentarians visit DRM – 11th-14th July

The delegation included a group of influential Brazilian deputies dealing with the digitisation question within powerful commissions of the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia. Welcomed by the DRM Chairman and senior representatives of the Consortium at the headquarters of Transradio on the outskirts of Berlin, the four delegates were presented with the key aspects, benefits and potential of DRM for Brazil. It was a lively visit, with lots of excellent discussions. Right from the start DRM was introduced as the best solution for Brazil, a country that has lots of AM stations and also almost 10,000 FM stations barely fitting in a very congested spectrum. The representatives of the Consortium stressed that DRM (as both DRM30 and DRM+) can offer the ideal solution for AM and FM in Brazil. DRM, an open technology seems “made for Brazil”, giving it a great chance to digitise, offer better audio quality while decongesting the spectrum and building a strong manufacturing industry.

In the fully packed three days of the visit the parliamentarians experienced MW DRM (in Berlin) and a DRM+ transmission (Hanover), had a run test in a car to check quality of DRM+ audio and its most minimal delay. In scheduled sessions and outside them, the parliamentarians discussed all aspects of DRM technology, intellectual property and implementation with representatives of: BBC, the Lower Saxony regulator, University of Hanover, transmission manufacturers like Transradio and Harris, chipset manufacturers like Frontier Silicon and NXP, equipment manufacturer – RFmondial and research institute Fraunhofer IIS. Together we were on the go all the time as we saw a transmitter site in Berlin, an antenna on top of the Hanover University, experienced DRM “live” in car and saw transmitters being put together in the Transradio transmitter factory. On return home the delegates will put together a comprehensive report which will influence the final decision of the Brazilian authorities on the much awaited radio digitisation.  Members of this delegation also visited Ibiquity in the US as part of their evaluation process.

The visit and its impact will be enhanced by presentations and practical demos at events in Brazil in August and September.