Factum Electronics receives orders for DAB+ encoders

Factum Electronics AB, the world-leading supplier of digital multimedia broadcasting equipment, today announced that it has received several orders for its new DAB+ audio encoder, MAP250.

“The introduction of the MAP250 has been well received by broadcasters and it has generated interest from across the world. Factum has already started its deliveries to Commercial Radio Australia in Australia, TELEKO, s.r.o. in the Czech Republic, T-Systems in Germany, and RTL 102,5, Club DAB Italia and another network operator in Italy,” says Kenneth Lundgren, Managing Director, Factum Electronics AB.

“Australian broadcasters have also announced that they will adopt the new DAB+ standard for the planned roll-out of digital radio. DAB+ is expected to be used in a number of other countries where it is currently undergoing trials, such as China, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Malta and Malaysia,” continues Kenneth Lundgren.

DAB+ is an enhancement of the Eureka 147 platform using advanced audio codec (AAC+) and was officially approved by the international standards body ETSI in February 2007. DAB+ is up to three times more efficient than the original standard.

“We see DAB+ as the best solution for launching new digital radio services in Australia. It gives radio stations more choice in how they can use their allocated bandwidth. Each broadcaster will have the possibility to deliver either superior audio quality, split their signal to offer two or three audio channels, or broadcast a combination of better than FM quality sound plus lots of associated data such as text or images,” says Joan Warner, CEO of Commercial Radio Australia.

“DAB provides a better digital radio experience for listeners and by using DAB+ the broadcasters will now be able to adopt the latest, most spectrum efficient technology in the world for the roll-out of digital radio services. DAB+ offers much more efficient compression, which means that more stations can be broadcast on each multiplex, resulting in lower transmission costs per station,” says Hans Runesten, Chairman of Factum Electronics AB and CEO of Effnet Holding AB.