The Netherlands to issue 34 regional DAB+ licenses

The Netherlands government announced that it will issue 34 DAB+ licenses for regional radio stations. The nation’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said that only commercial stations that already have a legal permit for DAB+ would be allowed to sign up for consideration. The two-year licenses are broken out by region, with no licenses to be granted for the major cities of Amsterdam or Rotterdam.

The Netherlands completed its DAB+ infrastructure in late 2013. According to a recent report by WorldDMB, digital radio network coverage is at more than 90% in the Netherlands. First level road coverage with DAB or DAB+ in the country is at 95%.

Several other nations are making pushes to bring DAB and DAB+ technology to more than the major metropolitan centers. In Europe, the UK is trialling a cheaper version of the technology and Germany is working to add new DAB+ broadcasting locations by 2016. Australia also recently released a report with its early steps toward DAB+ rollout for regional listeners.