Media: Another Case Against T2

A DAB/DAB+ radio from Tecsonic and an Identity tablet with built in DMB/DAB/DAB+. (CC by GG.)

Whenever you have a problem, there will always be someone claiming that a solution will solve the problem in the near future. For digital radio and mobile TV, the so-called solution that is often being referred to is called DVB T2. I have argued that this is an immature standard without available receivers, that it will be very costly to build such a network and that current DVB-T networks will have to be replanned and possibly rebuilt. In other words, not the way to go. DVB T2 as the solution for digital radio and mobile TV is just another biased claim made by false prophets.

The solution is already here. It is called Eureka 147, more commonly known as DMB/DAB/DAB+. It is being used in over 40 countries around the globe, and over 500 million people will be covered by such signals by the end of the year. Germany is only the last country to launch such services, something that will happen through a soft launch in four days and officially one month later.

DVB T2 is not the way to go. It's not here now and may never be here in a form that will prove useful. And telecom networks won't do the trick either, as I have repeatedly covered earlier.

Radio futurologist James Cridland has written a piece looking at DVB T2-Lite. He claims that there are numerous issues with DVB T2 and that DMB/DAB/DAB+ is the way to go, not least due to it's flexibility which opens up for digital radio, mobile TV, additional services (i.e. live traffic information and interactivity) and a combination with the internet.

Cridland's post is well worth a read:

DVB-T2-Lite – a case of the BBC reinventing the wheel?