Partirà il 25 giugno la Piattaforma sudafricana per la sperimentazione della radiofonia digitale DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale). Il progetto prevede anche la sperimentazione di trasmissioni in DRM sulle onde medie di Radio Pulpit, emittente cristiana che opera sui 657 kHz da Gauteng e copre la parte settentrionale del Free State e parti delle province di Mpumalanga e Kwazulu-Natal e ha una consorella, Cape Pulpit, su 729 kHz. Ecco il comunicato del DRM Consortium:
The DRM Consortium is expanding its activities with the launch of a new DRM Platform in Southern Africa. The objectives of the DRM Consortium’s Southern Africa DRM Platform, a voluntary group without financial aims, are to coordinate the various industry stakeholders in the countries of Southern Africa interested in DRM, to stimulate the introduction and roll-out of DRM broadcasts and to demonstrate a business case for producing and selling DRM radio sets or auxiliary devices. The DRM Platform in Southern Africa joins thus the Indian, Brazilian, German and other DRM national platforms working together with the DRM Consortium but using national knowledge and expertise.
The launch of the Southern Africa DRM Platform is scheduled on June 25th June and will be followed a week later by the beginning of the first DRM medium wave trial (by Radio Pulpit) in South Africa.
Dr Roelf Petersen of Radio Pulpit, the Chairman of the new Platform says: “My role will be to coordinate the strength of all the African parties involved, in order to ensure that the great potential of the DRM technology becomes a practical reality for serving the peoples of Southern Africa.”
The DRM Consortium has already been present in Southern Africa, recently attending a well-attended SABA Digital Radio Broadcasting Summit in Cape Town, and being part of other SABA events in Johannesburg and in Arusha (Tanzania) last year.
“The DRM global standard can be used in all radio frequency bands and is ideal for the large countries of Southern Africa”, stresses Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Chairman. ”From national networks and regional stations to smaller commercial and community stations, all would be able to broadcast their digital radio programmes with enhanced content and in excellent sound quality to everyone in their respective countries. DRM is an ideal African digital solution and we have high hopes of the activity of the newly created DRM Southern Africa Platform, now open to all those interested.”
Malgrado si tratti di una norma tecnica molto consolidata e adatta a trasmissioni in AM e FM su un ampio spettro di frequenze broadcast, le prospettive di mercato restano incerte. Le sperimentazioni in onde medie Europa sono praticamente chiuse, e le onde corte annaspano alquanto. I progetti di digitalizzazione annunciati dalla Russia a suo tempo si sono arenati forse definitivamente e anche in India le opportunità non sono chiare. Soprattutto pesa ancora la sostanziale assenza di fornitori di ricevitori in volume: finora i pochi modelli di radio DRM stand alone (cioè non dipendenti da computer e software esterni) hanno deluso sul piano della qualità, dei volumi di produzione e delle vendite.
