The upgrade of existing AM or FM transmitters to digital DRM operation needs to be requested from the respective manufacturer.

For Band III operation, new transmitters will likely need to be purchased. In the case of DAB+, multiple broadcasters share the cost of a single transmitter as part of the multiplex signal and need to pay for the intermediary. In the case of DRM (Multichannel-DRM), up to 15 or even 17 independent broadcasters (each with up to 3 audio programmes which results in up to 45 or even 51 programmes) can share a single Band III transmitter and frequency block of 100kHz.

The cost of the head-end, the digital extra element, will depend on the requirements of each broadcaster. Cost is affected by elements such as redundancy requirements, automation, interfaces to professional studio infrastructure, number of internal or external audio encoders, monitoring requirements, etc.

Specifically for community broadcasters in the FM band, manufacturers are working on low-power and low-cost integrated broadcast solutions.