Ten more areas are to get access to the UK's only national commercial digital radio multiplex, Digital One. New transmitters will be switched on in areas including North West Cumbria, Eastbourne, Chesterfield and the Yorkshire coast over the next two years. Digital One says it will give them 90% DAB coverage of the UK.
The expansion will bring new or improved coverage of majority shareholder GCap Media's national commercial stations (Classic FM, Core, Planet Rock, Capital Life and theJazz) as well as Virgin Radio, talkSPORT and Oneword, to approximately 1,894,000 people (gross population).
The plan has been designed to complement the Digital TV Switchover project, by giving residents of Whitehaven in Cumbria the opportunity to make a total switch to digital technology later this year.
The list of transmitters given the go-ahead are in the following areas:
[b]Scottish Borders[/b] — two new transmitters; Selkirk and Riddings Hill (south of Dumfries)
[b]Cumbria[/b] — two new transmitters; Whitehaven and Workington
[b]Yorkshire Coast[/b] — three new transmitters; Bridlington, Scarborough and Whitby
[b]Derbyshire [/b]— one new transmitter in Chesterfield
[b]South Coast [/b]— two new transmitters; Newhaven and Eastbourne
On announcing the transmitter roll out, Digital One's Chief Executive Quentin Howard told RadioToday.co.uk: "With sales of digital radios nearly at 5 million, we felt the time had come give even more listeners a chance to access the national commercial stations on our network. We have already gone well beyond our original coverage commitment and will continue to champion DAB digital radio as the technology of choice for radio listeners across the country."
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