DRM reached out to the Arab World broadcast sector – Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) – in the Tunisian capital of Tunis last month. The aim of the DRM contribution within the “ASBU-EBU Week of Technology” was to present the great advantages of turning to the DRM standard in the Arab countries of Africa and Middle East. Mr Simon Keens, Ampegon, vice-chair of the Consortium and Mr Sharad Sadhu, consultant representing Fraunhofer IIS, dealt with DRM in the AM and FM bands, as well as with the emergency warning functionality delivered at source by the all-frequency band open standard, DRM.

Mr Sharad Sadhu paid a lot of attention to how DRM FM could be rolled out to deliver a very good digital radio coverage while saving spectrum, energy and allowing several broadcasters to use the same infrastructure. His presentation offered some compelling reasons why the Arab radio broadcasters should consider implementing DRM FM. This is against an already well-established related ecosystem, with professional and consumer products already available. The speaker stressed how DRM FM could supplement the digital radio coverage in countries where another system might have been selected or even implemented. The session Chair paraphrased these ideas and hinted that these aspects could be considered. One of the questions raised was whether DRM was available for delivery on DVB-T2, as one particular Arab country would like to go for it.

Energy sustainability featured prominently in Simon Keens’ presentation. He demonstrated how each broadcaster could use the free energy tool devised by the Consortium to get the data reflecting its own reality and undeniable energy savings no matter which their scenario was.

While the presentation on disaster warning in DRM, called EWF, was the last of the day, participants evinced interest in the details provided. The session chair pointed out the importance of emergency warning services by the broadcasters and cited the recent case of floods in Libya, adding that timely and reliable warning would have saved many lives there.

The Arab countries’ delegations were all very impressed by DRM’s input, and it really does appear that many are now considering the transition from analogue to digital and DRM.