FWIW, here is the latest on the situation in Great Britain, as reported in the latest issue (September, 2009) of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Spectrum:
Regards,
-- Al
Britain Mulls Over Digital Radio Transition:
The British communications ministry has released a road map calling for the completion of the nations move from analog FM to the digital audio broadcast (DAB) standard by the end of 2015. But DAB skeptics say that the move will waste money and that consumers just arent interested. Conversion will require anywhere from 120 to 700 new transmitters, according to Eureca Research analyst Gareth Owen, and there will be 130 million useless FM receivers to toss.
Whats more, the British government does not stand to make any money from freeing up bandwidth. Unlike the U.S. 700-megahertz spectrumwhich sold for US $20 billion and will be used for new servicesthe FM space in Britain will simply go to small local commercial and community stations.
Regards,
-- Al