Dear Sir or Madam,

Could you please let me have:

(a) details of any complaints to you on the sound quality of DAB
arising from low bit rate broadcasting

(b) all information on your consideration of minimum levels of
acceptable bit rates for DAB broadcasting, and the reasoning for
your decisions

(c) all information on your consideration of moving DAB
broadcasting to more sophisticated modern coding systems (e.g.
AAC), and the reasoning for your decisions.

Yours faithfully,

Allen Atore

Dear Mr Atore,

Please see attached correspondence.

Regards,
Daniel Maher

:: Daniel Maher
Administration Officer
Content & Standards
Tel: 020 7981 3891
Fax: 020 7981 3806
email: [email address]

:: Ofcom
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London SE1 9HA
020 7981 3000
www.ofcom.org.uk<blocked::http://www.ofcom.org.uk/>

show quoted sections

Reference: 1-59347967

24th July 2008

Via email: [FOI #905 email]<mailto:[FOI #905 email]>

Dear Mr Atore

Freedom of Information: Right to know request

Thank you for your request for information regarding DAB sound quality. More specifically, you have requested:

· Details of any complaints to Ofcom on the sound quality of DAB arising from low bit rate broadcasting;

· All information on Ofcom's consideration of minimum levels of acceptable bit rates for DAB broadcasting, and the reasoning for your decisions; and

· All information on Ofcom's consideration of moving DAB broadcasting to more sophisticated modern coding systems, and the reasoning for Ofcom's decisions.

Your request was received on 25 June 2008 and has been considered under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ('the Act').

In response to the first part of your request, I can confirm that Ofcom has received one complaint on the sound quality of DAB arising from low bit rate broadcasting. The complaint reads:
"I just took delivery of a car with a reasonably high quality DAB radio system [Redacted section 44]. I was looking forward to a great choice of new radio stations. However the sound quality is so poor (muffled) that I think I shall be keeping it tuned to FM. [Redacted section 44] is one of the ones I have tried for a few hours - either the presenters all need adenoid operations or there is something seriously wrong with the technology.

Having spent a few minutes looking over the internet forums it appears that DAB sound quality at 128mb/s MP2 is dramatically inferior to 128mb/s MP3, which is just about acceptable on my cheap MP3 player. Apparently 192mb/s MP2 is comparable in quality with 128 mb/s MP3.

In my opinion DAB should broadcast at 192mb/s minimum, even if only half the channels are available. There is little point in offering all those channels, if listening to them is not pleasurable. It seems to me that DAB radio is being aimed at the £29 radios in Tesco, rather than anything better."

Some names of companies are being withheld as this information falls under the exemption in section 44(1)(a) of the Act. Under this section information which we hold on this subject is exempt from disclosure since it was provided to us under our regulatory powers and its disclosure is therefore prohibited under section 393(1) of the Communications Act 2003. Section 44 is an absolute exemption under the Act and does not require a public interest test.

In response to the second and third parts of your request, the information you have requested is contained in the following documents that have already been published:

· 'Radio - Preparing for the future, Phase 1: developing a new framework' (December 2004); pp.142-44 and Appendix E (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/...) and responses (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/...).

· 'Radio - Preparing for the Future, Phase 2: Implementing the framework' (October 2005); pp.49-52, Appendix A and responses (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/...).

· 'Radio - Licensing Policy for VHF Band III, Sub-band 3' (December 2005); pp.23-24 (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/...)

· Responses to the discussion document 'The Future of Radio: The future of FM and AM services and the alignment of analogue and digital regulation' (November 2006) (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/...)

· 'The Future of Radio: The future of FM and AM services and the alignment of analogue and digital regulation' (April 2007); pp.15-16, pp.112-117 (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/...).

· 'The Future of Radio: the next phase' (November 2007); pp.73-75 (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/...).

· 'The Future of Radio: Localness on analogue commercial radio and stereo and mono broadcasting on DAB' (February 2008); pp.4-5, pp.21-24, pp.36-37 (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/...)
You should ensure that when using the provided information in any way, including publishing the information, you comply with all relevant legislation. For example, the information provided may be protected by copyright under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended). If in doubt, please seek independent legal advice. For Ofcom's policy on copyright and related issues, please refer to our website at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/accoun/dis...
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Kind regards
Alex Bevan
Information Requests
[email address]<mailto:[email address]>

If you are unhappy with the response or level of service you have received in relation to your request from Ofcom, you may ask for an internal review. If you ask us for an internal review of our decision, it will be treated as a formal complaint and will be subject to an independent review within Ofcom. We will acknowledge the complaint and inform you of the date by which you might expect to be told the outcome.
The following outcomes are possible:
* the original decision is upheld; or
* the original decision is reversed or modified.

Timing
If you wish to exercise your right to an internal review you should contact us within two months of the date of this letter. There is no statutory deadline for undertaking internal reviews and it will depend upon the complexity of the case, but we aim to conclude all internal reviews within 2 months. If you wish to request an internal review, you should contact:

Graham Howell
The Secretary to the Corporation
Ofcom
Riverside House
2a Southwark Bridge Road
London SE1 9HA

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

show quoted sections