Guest Column: Radio Liberty Coming to a PDA Near You

By Sasha Meyer

International broadcasters like the BBC and VOA have always suffered from physics. They broadcast in AM format on short and medium wave. While AM signals can reach listeners on the other side of the globe, they are highly susceptible to interference. The result is discouragingly noisy and at times inaudible reception.

FM format on ultra-short wave is well known for its high fidelity, but it lacks range. An FM signal goes only as far as the horizon, which is not very: A station with a 100-meter-tall antenna can reach listeners only within 20 miles.

During the Cold War, U.S. government-run VOA and others tried to overcome the obstacles by increasing the power of the transmitters and moving them closer to the Eastern Bloc's borders. (Radio Moscow did likewise, using facilities in Cuba and Eastern Europe.)

After the Soviet collapse, the VOA tried to fix the problem by arranging to broadcast its programs on local CIS stations. This solution has proved both cumbersome (requiring negotiation with a multitude of partners), limited (some countries haven't agreed) and temporary (many partnerships have been suspended, both in Russia and Central Asia).

But the arrival of new broadcast technology – Digital Radio Mondiale or DRM – promises to solve the problem once and for all.

DRM enables the delivery of FM-quality audio over AM distances. Field tests show clear reception of a DRM broadcast from Portugal in places as far away as Finland and Cyprus. (Listen to samples here). The next step – DRM Plus – promises CD-quality sound, albeit over shorter distances.

The future for DRM seems bright for several reasons. It enjoys broad support among broadcasters. They see it as their last fighting chance against the Internet and satellite radio.

Unlike the latter two, DRM is cheap: Existing transmitters can be used with an addition of a computer that digitizes the audio. Furthermore, it significantly cuts electricity bills.

Geographically large countries - Russia, India and Brazil - are among its biggest backers. For them, DRM is a cost-effective way to deliver news across their vast distances. A Chinese company already makes DRM-capable Himalaya radios and Russia has produced one called Orlyonok.

The DRM plans got an extra boost last year when Swiss semiconductor giant ST Microelectronics announced plans for a tiny DRM decoder. The chip can be built into anything from car radios to PDAs.

DRM broadcasting is already a reality. For example, the Kremlin's Voice of Russia has been broadcasting since 2003 in DRM format to China and to Europe (in English, French and German).

Expect Radio Liberty and Deutsche Welle to start beaming their DRM programs into the CIS once Orlyonok hits store shelves in Minusinsk and Khujand.

Many Spaniards celebrated the recent demolition of Radio Liberty's huge antennas near Barcelona. But, with DRM's arrival and experts saying that Cold War 2.0 is imminent, that destruction might seem a bit rushed.

Photo: Euthman

Rights: Creative Commons