Boom Radio is calling for the BBC’s national DAB multiplex to switch entirely to DAB+ and for the capacity released to be reserved for new commercial services.
The proposal is one of a series of calls for major changes to radio regulation contained in responses to Ofcom’s consultation on its broadcast licensing priorities.
Boom says moving the BBC’s national stations to DAB+ could create capacity for up to ten new services and potentially generate additional income for the corporation.
It wants the capacity ringfenced for independent broadcasters rather than allocated to companies which already control a significant share of national DAB.
Boom’s analysis says Global, Bauer and News UK collectively control approximately 90% of the capacity across the two national commercial multiplexes, leaving other operators with around 10%.
Its spin-off service Boom Light uses London II and a collection of city-based small-scale multiplexes because no national capacity is available. Boom says buying space on numerous local multiplexes is too expensive for a niche service generating national rather than local advertising revenue.
Radiocentre also asks Ofcom to examine additional bandwidth on existing national multiplexes and says the government’s Digital Radio and Audio Review could consider converting the BBC network to DAB+.
Industry wants 40% limit relaxed
The strongest area of agreement is a demand for greater freedom for small-scale DAB multiplexes to improve and extend coverage. Most respondents expressed a view supported relaxing Ofcom’s application of the 40% overlap ceiling.
Ofcom proposes allowing a minimal exceedance in exceptional circumstances where a significant public benefit can be demonstrated, but many respondents say this will not fix weak or fragmented reception.
But some propose allowing up to 100% overlap where the local multiplex is full or close to full, subject to spectrum availability. Where it is not full, they suggest up to 75% in circumstances including incidental overspill, completing coverage of one population centre or correcting shortcomings in predicted reception.
They describe the existing restriction as outdated protectionism which has hamstrung small-scale DAB without producing any proven benefit.
Nation Broadcasting says the restriction should be substantially relaxed or removed. Hot Radio, Infocus Digital Media and Dee Radio Group also say Ofcom’s minimal change will not resolve the problem.
MuxCo and MuxNet Ltd support limited changes to fill gaps but say extensions should not significantly breach 40%.
Radiocentre says any exceedance should remain exceptional and transparent, with the effect on neighbouring commercial stations, listening and advertising revenue assessed.
Ofcom told to improve
Several respondents accuse Ofcom of taking too long over technical changes and failing to provide clear, predictable rules.
Affinity Media NE, Better Media, Bradford City Radio, the Community Media Association, Dee Radio Group, High Peak One Digital and Radiocentre call for clearer criteria, worked examples, service standards or published timescales.
Better Media says Ofcom relies on administrative systems which cannot interrogate live data efficiently. It argues regulatory capacity should be improved through modernisation rather than used to justify conservative licensing decisions.
Coverage maps challenged
Some operators say Ofcom’s predicted coverage does not always match reception on the ground. They question the blanket 63 dBµV/m planning level, arguing that buildings and urban clutter require a stronger signal for reliable indoor listening.
Bristol says small changes to a predicted boundary in a densely populated city can push a proposal above 40% and force compromises which harm reception.
Operators want Ofcom to accept real-life reception evidence, particularly where an increase is intended to fill gaps inside a licensed area rather than enter a new market.
Calls to put small-scale DAB first
A number of respondents say existing small-scale multiplexes should be made sustainable before overlapping local DAB services are licensed.
They warn that larger commercial stations which help finance small-scale DAB could migrate to a wider local multiplex, leaving community stations with higher carriage charges or causing the smaller multiplex to close.
The CMA notes that local DAB has no capacity reserved for Community Digital Sound Programme services, so community stations would compete with better-funded broadcasters.
Its survey found 79% supported greater flexibility around the 40% limit. Among those able to answer, twice as many said their multiplex was constrained from achieving its intended coverage as said it was not.
Forty per cent expected expansion to increase their carriage bills, and the CMA wants stations consulted before their multiplex is allowed to extend.
Nation Broadcasting and MuxCo take a different view, supporting additional local DAB multiplexes in large urban areas.
Nation says Ofcom’s concentration on small-scale DAB and community FM has inadvertently helped the two largest commercial groups maintain local and regional dominance. MuxCo says one local multiplex might cover some cities more efficiently than several small-scale services.
MuxNet UK counters that modern car radios can follow the same station across adjacent multiplexes, making one large single-frequency area unnecessary.
Radiocentre wants established local multiplexes protected from excessive small-scale overlap, but also wants the effect on small-scale DAB examined before any new local multiplex is licensed.
Other points made
Bristol Digital Radio and MuxNet Ltd want a Community Digital Sound Programme licence to be usable across adjacent small-scale multiplexes where a station’s natural area spans both. Bristol says Bradley Stoke Radio currently pays for a C-DSP licence on one multiplex and a standard DSP licence on another.
Nation wants the 18-month launch deadline changed because planning, site access, surveys and weather can cause unavoidable delays. It also wants local DAB licences extended beyond 2030.
Better Media proposes moving BBC Radio 3 from FM to DAB and online to release spectrum for new local services. It also says AM should move towards on-demand licensing.
Despite their different interests, the responses deliver a consistent message: small-scale DAB needs more freedom, stronger real-world coverage and quicker decisions from Ofcom.
The argument is now whether the regulator makes narrow exceptions to the 40% rule or uses the consultation to give independent and community radio a substantially freer route to audiences.
