162 new BBC DAB transmitters in two years

The BBC’s Director of Distribution has announced plans to add 162 new digital radio transmitters to improve national DAB coverage for its national network stations to more than 97%.

The corporation says transmitters will be added at a rate of more than three every two weeks between now and Christmas 2015. Coverage at the moment is just over 93% of the UK. The fourth-phase of the roll-out will bring network BBC radio on DAB to an extra 2.5m people and improve coverage for millions of others.

Dr Alix Pryde, Director of BBC Distribution, made the announcement at Techcon at the start of the 2013 Radio Festival in Salford. She said: “We’re not just building transmitters to bring new towns and villages into coverage; we’re also building ones to reinforce coverage in key areas. Glasgow, Liverpool, Oxford, Leicester, Coventry, and Eastbourne are all examples of places which will get improved coverage for many, as well as coverage for the first time for a few. When we’ve finished, around 49 in 50 people in the UK will be covered by our digital radio network.”

The first transmitter in this phase to come on-air will be for Basingstoke – likely to happen before Christmas.

BBC DAB Phase 4 by area, number of transmitters in parentheses, including principal towns/villages

City-centre boosts

Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Coventry, Glasgow,Leicester, Lincoln, Liverpool, Oxford and Plymouth

England

Berkshire (2) – Wokingham, Maidenhead
Buckinghamshire (3) – Chesham, Aylesbury, High Wycombe
Cambridgeshire (1) – Wisbech
Cornwall (2) – St Just, St Erth
County Durham (1) – Weardale Valley
Cumbria (1) – Barrow-in-Furness
Derbyshire (6) – Ashbourne, Glossop, Chapel-en-le-Frith
Devon (10) – Ashburton, Bampton, Beer, Brixham, Dartmouth
Dorset (3) – Lyme Regis, Blandford Forum
Essex (2) – Braintree, Harlow
Gloucestershire (2) – Stow-on-the-Wold
Hampshire (4)
Hertfordshire (2) – Letchworth, Stevenage
Isle of Wight (1) – Ventnor
Kent (4) – Folkestone, Faversham, Dover, Deal
Lancashire (5) – Darwen, Blackpool, Whalley, Whitworth
Lincolnshire (7) – Boston, Bourne, Grantham, Scunthorpe, Skegness
Norfolk (11) – Brandon, Fakenham, Downham Market, Kings Lynn, Thetford, Wells-next-the-Sea
North Yorkshire (3) – Harrogate, Pateley Bridge, Skipton
Northampton (1)
Northumberland (3) – Haydon Bridge, Hexham, Alnmouth, Alnwick
Oxfordshire (1) – Banbury
Redcar and Cleveland (1) – Skinningrove
Shropshire (4) – Bishop’s Castle, Church Stretton, Ludlow, Oswestry
Somerset (2) – Chard, Weston-super-Mare
South Yorkshire (1) – Stocksbridge
Suffolk (7) – Southwold, Bungay, Felixstowe, Sudbury, Ipswich
Surrey (4) – Caterham, Haslemere, Dorking, Leatherhead
West Sussex (3) – Crawley, East Grinstead
East Sussex (2) – Rye, Eastbourne
Teesside (1) – Barnard Castle
West Yorkshire (4) – Hebden Bridge, Calder Valley
Worcestershire (1)

Scotland

Aberdeenshire (3)
Argyll and Bute (2), including Islay
Borders (3) – Innerleithen, Jedburgh, Peebles
Dumfries and Galloway (4) – Kirkconnel, Langholm, Moffat, Thornhill
Ross-shire and the isles (1)
Isle of Skye (1)
Perthshire (1) – Montrose
South Ayrshire (2)
South Lanarkshire (1)

Wales

Bridgend (1)
Camarthenshire (1) – Kidwelly
Ceredigion (2) – Lampeter, Newcastle Emlyn
Conwy (1)
North Anglesey (1)
Flintshire (1)
Neath Port Talbot (1)
North Wales (5) – Deiniolen, Dolgellau, Cefn Mawr, Wrexham
Pembrokeshire (2) – Haverfordwest, Tenby
Powys (4) – Brecon, Hay-on-Wye, Llanidloes, Machynlleth
South Wales (1) – Aberdare
Swansea (1)

Northern Ireland

Ballycastle (1)
Bangor (1)
Newtownards (1)

Channel Islands

Guernsey (1)

Isle of Man

Ramsey (1)
Port St Mary (1)