DAB+ continues to grow: mobile coverage and Ebbs location

Never before has so much happened in the area of ​​DAB+ as in the last few months. A sign that digital radio is gaining momentum and is being used by more listeners. DAB+ is becoming more and more exciting and colorful. Not just in Germany.

The first nationwide DAB+ multiplex DR Deutschland is currently being broadcast on channel 5C over 165 locations. The transmitter network is to be further expanded, particularly to improve indoor coverage. According to the applications received by the Federal Network Agency, the locations Hohe Wurzel with 5 kW (Hesse), Wilhelmshaven (Lower Saxony) and Schleswig (Schleswig-Holstein), both with 0.5 kW each, are planned for 2024. The new location Bad Tölz-Gaißach with 1.6 kW (Bavaria) already went into operation in June. DIGITAL FERNSEHEN has already reported on this.

This five-part series of articles will examine what will happen with DAB+ in the future, both here and beyond Germany.

(The data provided in this article on DAB+ transmitter locations that have already been put into operation and those still planned are based on the status as of July 15, 2024. All information is without guarantee)

Nationwide mobile coverage by 2028

However, DR Germany’s broadcasting network could continue to grow strongly until 2028. According to a recent report by the Commission for the Determination of the Financial Requirements of the State Broadcasting Corporations KEF It appears that Deutschlandradio is aiming to expand to 200 to 210 locations. This would provide almost nationwide mobile coverage. This should also be seen in connection with the rather deaf DAB+ radios that are sometimes installed in our cars. Nationwide indoor reception would not yet be possible with this increased number of transmitter locations.

Currently, the Bavarian Forest and the west of Rhineland-Palatinate are still considered to be under-supplied. In addition, there is still inadequate indoor coverage in some larger cities. These include Karlsruhe and Wuppertal. It can be assumed that additional transmitters will be switched on, especially in these regions.

Southern Denmark to Lake Garda

As was announced at the end of March, a 10 kW transmitter is also planned for the first German federal mux at the Ebbs site. What makes this site so unusual is that it is not far from the border with Bavaria, north of Kufstein in the Austrian Tyrol. From there, the region around the A93 motorway from Kiefersfelden to the Inntal triangle near Rosenheim is supplied in particular. On the edge, so to speak, the Ebbs transmitter site also enjoys a large range along the Inntal motorway into Tyrol. The range limit is close to Innsbruck.

We know this so precisely because three Bavarian DAB+ multiplexes are already being broadcast from this location. If the first federal multiplex were to be switched on at this location, it would mean that at least DLF Kultur and DLF Nova would be heard seamlessly from southern Denmark to the southern tip of Lake Garda in Italy. This is possible because the South Tyrol broadcasting company RAS broadcasts these two DLF programs and six BR programs in its two DAB+ multiplexes. Its reach into the Austrian Tyrol matches that of the Ebbs transmitter.

_{Text: Thomas Riegler / Editor: Felix Ritter}