Swiss radio listeners will soon have to toss out their old sets, as the country plans to end analog FM broadcasting on December 31, 2024, in favor of a total conversion to digital.
The move has been a long time coming in Switzerland, which has largely already transitioned to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB+, an evolution of standard DAB that was designed to address early issues).
That put Switzerland second to Norway in DAB+ penetration prior to enforcement of the EU's Electronic Communications Code, which mandated digital radio receivers be included in all new vehicles as of 2020.
While some countries in the EU and beyond have readily embraced DAB and the phaseout of analog radio, not everyone is as excited as the Swiss or Norwegians about the transition.
Several of those rollouts were abandoned due to lack of interest, low availability of DAB+ receivers and the rise in satellite and internet-based radio broadcasts.
Basic feature phones that lack internet access are common in India, which relies on emergency radio broadcasts more heavily than nations with broader mobile data network coverage.
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