Perspectives of Digital Radio Development in Croatia

Digital radio, in comparison to frequency modulated (FM) sound broadcasting in very high frequency (VHF) band II (87.6 MHz - 107.9 MHz), introduces new features to the sound broadcasting specially in the case of new content and provides new technical improvements such as different spectral efficiency, power consumption, sound quality and integration with social media and other platforms. FM sound broadcasting in VHF band II is widely spread worldwide analogue standard but it is limited for introduction of new radio programs with national coverage and in larger cities, due to overcrowded spectral usage and limitations of use in analogue technology. Regarding additional services, FM sound broadcasting can provide only radio data system (RDS). However, despite the fact that standard for digital sound broadcasting has advanced properties and possibilities its deployment is still rather poor. With the exception of Norway, the majority of countries still haven't made any decision about digital switchover nor made complete transition to digital radio. This paper briefly describes the perspective of digital radio development in Croatia from the point of its introduction in 1997 as digital audio broadcasting (DAB), to the phase of experimental work as DAB+ during the period of 12 months in 2017 and 2018. Also, some criteria for switchover and transition to digital sound broadcasting that are common in different countries across the Europe are presented in this document.