In the 160th ITU anniversary year the DRM Consortium chairman submitted this article on the significant green credentials of DRM. This will be published by ITU but here is a chance to read it already. ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for digital technologies (ICTs). The Organization is made up of a membership of 194 Member States and more than 1000 companies, universities and international and regional organizations. ITU is the oldest agency in the UN family – connecting the world since the dawn of the telegraph in 1865.
Digital radio saves energy
Ruxandra Obreja, Chair, DRM Consortium
In its 160th year, ITU should be proud of its work to strengthen and modernize the one enduring electronic communication platform predating TV, Internet and AI: the wireless.
Radio is not uncool.
Radio continues to be popular, from the US to Africa, from Europe to India, and beyond. Its resilience is best captured by Kartik Kalla of Radio City, a major Indian network: “Radio has intangible benefits over other mediums in terms of portability, affordability, and accessibility.” It brings attention to “the need for social change, fostering curiosity, and empowering individuals to act.”
Digital radio: #ConnectedByITU
ITU recommendations to digitize analogue radio are modernizing this medium. Radio remains simple, robust and cost-effective when compared with the Internet, to which one third of the world population does not even have access. Even the sometimes forgotten and “orphaned” shortwave radio (recently given a blow in the US where the international shortwave services were closed by the government) is simpler than comparable digital TV or new telecom-based services. Most importantly, radio broadcasts are free-to-air, one-to-many, and listeners are untraceable.
The only digital broadcasting standard for all band broadcasting by using efficiently shortwave, medium-wave and FM is Digital Radio Mondiale (www.drm.org). DRM offers excellent audio quality and extra services, no matter the frequency.
Whether a station is local or far away, digital audio quality is excellent. DRM allows for broadcasting in more than one language, with associated text and images. DRM broadcasters offer information and entertainment, as well as emergency warnings, distance learning or Internet content to those without Internet access.
Energy savings for broadcasters
Radio is free for listeners because broadcasters bear transmission costs. With broadcasters facing increasing energy bills, shutting down big analogue transmitters seems logical. DRM reduces energy bills from 40%-60% in AM and up to 90% in FM, compared to analogue.
Listeners need new receivers to capture digital radio. DRM receivers receive both analogue and digital signals. They relay excellent audio, images, written information in several languages and emergency warnings.
Paul Firth from Encompass Media Services, the UK network provider for BBC World Service broadcasts, says: “If DRM technology saves millions of pounds of operating costs and millions of kilowatt hours of energy every year, our broadcasts will become cheaper and greener. If the only missing piece is somebody ordering enough receivers for people to buy, we should start thinking about upgrading our infrastructure tomorrow.”
The ITU recommendations can become reality and genuinely save energy and money while future-proofing radio and offering services that listeners want, love and can even save their lives.
Green Radio Tips
To calculate savings a broadcaster can achieve by going from analogue to digital, DRM has a free calculator energyefficiency.drm.org (energyefficiency@drm.org).
