Radio - Vodafone switches off analog radio signal in the cable network
Anyone in North Rhine-Westphalia who listens to the radio via their cable connection must be prepared for a changeover. The operator Vodafone has announced that it will switch off the analog radio signal in its North Rhine-Westphalian sub-network next Wednesday (January 10). Analog cable radio will also end in Hesse (January 9) and Baden-Württemberg (January 11). In the other federal states, analog transmission was already switched off in 2018.
Around 350 radio stations will then only be receivable digitally in the cable network, as Vodafone announced. This requires suitable digital receivers. The switch-off is intended to free up frequency ranges for additional internet offerings. The frequency range in which analog cable radio has been broadcast to date is primarily relevant for upstream, i.e. data traffic from home to the Internet.
With the discontinuation of analog transmission, the broadcast signals will be replaced by a tape announcement informing listeners of the switchover. The final switch-off will take place on January 31. The number of analog radio listeners can only be estimated. Vodafone assumes that only around 2 percent of cable customers in Germany use the service. As a rule, this applies to customers who have connected their radios or hi-fi systems directly to the cable socket.
However, the vast majority listen to the radio via terrestrial FM waves, the internet or with new digital receivers (DAB+) and are therefore not affected by the changeover. According to Vodafone, around 47 million people in Germany have access to digital or web radio. In North Rhine-Westphalia, listening to the radio via the Internet is particularly popular. 57 percent of people aged 14 and over use it, compared to 52 percent across Germany.
Customer information Vodafone study State Media Authorities Audio Trends 2023
Read also:
- A clan member is punished here
- Traffic lawyer warns: Don't talk to the police!
- Will he be convicted as Jutta's murderer after 37 years?
- He also wanted to kill his cousin
- telecommunications companies like Vodafone in Baden-Württemberg are also planning to switch off analog radio signals in their cable networks, on January 11.
- The telecommunications industry in Germany has largely moved away from analog radio, with North Rhine-Westphalia being one of the last regions to make the changeover, following Vodafone's switch-off on January 10.
- In Düsseldorf, radio listeners using cable network connections will need to upgrade to digital receivers in order to continue accessing over 350 radio stations after the changeover announced by Vodafone.
- The changeover from analog to digital radio signals in the cable network will free up frequency ranges in North Rhine-Westphalia, allowing for additional internet offerings and leveraging the network's capacity for upstream data traffic.
- Vodafone has identified that only around 2% of its customers in Germany use the analog radio service via cable connection, indicating a low impact of the changeover on its customer base, largely consisting of those who listen to radio through terrestrial FM waves, the internet, or digital receivers (DAB+).
Source: www.stern.de
