DRM Consortium Links to RDS

The annual RDS Forum, held again in person in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 10-11 invited for the first time the DRM Consortium to attend, update on DRM and answer questions on the progress made by the open, all-band standard in the past 2-3 years.

Top representatives of the Consortium, present in Switzerland, gave full technical, global and receiver presentations which were well received and triggered interesting questions and discussions. A both consortia have global reach and enrichment solutions for the FM band, there are obvious points of shared interest between the two not-for-profit organisations; this was one of the main conclusions at the end of the two-day event.

Dietmar Kopitz, RDS Forum CEO, said: “The transition from analogue to digital radio in VHF Band II appears to be a very slow process. However, when it will happen, from a European point-of-view, DRM is a very attractive technology just because it allows analogue and digital radio to co-exist in the same region. For the RDS Forum working together with the DRM Consortium will be beneficial for the industry, as it will permit to harmonise the radio data applications of both systems.”

For the DRM Chairman, Ruxandra Obreja, this was a most useful exchange of views and opinions: ”It is clear that FM, be it analogue or digital, is a most popular platform and by working together with our RDS colleagues, there might be crossover areas of interest that could benefit both standards and strengthen the universal terrestrial audio broadcasting. We are looking forward to the next steps and the progress we can make together.”