Alexander is Vice President of the DRM Association and Fraunhofer Institute vice group leader for the work group 'Broadcast Applications'. He answers a few of my questions from the DRM webinar:Q: Has there been any discussion with HFCC of keeping DRM and analogue separated to avoid collisions? i.e. DRM high in the band, analogue low end?
"That's a question to Horst Scholz, Chair of HFCC. However, many frequencies are already assigned and in use. If those broadcasters choose to switch to digital (maybe just for a few hours a day), they will not likely apply for another frequency for that purpose... Summary: I'm not aware of such a separation and I can't imagine at the moment how that could work without a complete re-organization of frequency assignments (which is highly unlikely to ever happen)."
Q: 10 years on from ETSI first publishing the standard, where are the receivers?
"There are software based receivers, professional receivers, and DRM30 consumer receivers available. However, no manufacturer will start developing high-investment chipsets unless there is a well defined market. India and Russia are currently establishing these requirements, and we see developments in progress with several manufacturers as a result of that. This even reflects back to the DRM Consortium itself, as more chipset manufacturers get excited to join as members now - not a reality two years ago. So as a summary: Low-cost receivers require large, well-defined markets. With India and Russia those markets are establishing. This will result in mass-production of receivers, bringing the price down, and making reveivers as a result available for worldwide use."
A special thank you to Alexander for his answers!
