The Queen of England has one, the British Prime Minister has one and the director general of the BBC has one. No one in Ireland has one yet; it is a digital radio.
This is not a digital radio like the one in the car that has a digital station finder rather than a band, but a radio that can receive digital signals, a radio its enthusiasts believe will be the next big thing.
There has been no discussion about digital radio unlike digital television, which has been the subject of long and complex debate, - there has been steady progress, however. The BBC now has about 60 per cent of Britain favoured by digital radio coverage, even if only a few people can hear it. In some other countries, France and Sweden, for instance, digital radio is seen as the only solution to the problem of overcrowded wave bands.
There have been some testing of digital radio in Ireland. Pilot schemes have been on air in the Dublin area. Further tests will probably take place on a wider scale before RTE approaches the Department of Communications. However, RTE's experiments are very much at the initial testing stage and digital radio is nowhere near as advanced as in some other countries. The reason we lag behind is simple: we have not the incentive of a shortage of radio spectrum.
Digital radio or digital audio broadcasting (DAB) is a form of transmission that allows for hundreds of services where only a few can exist with traditional analogue transmission.
Technically it is the transmission of digital radio signals by means of bits, or a series of binary digits, i.e. ones and zeros. In essence this means that six or seven channels can exist where there is only one now. DAB also means high-quality, clear signals. Listeners can receive CD-quality sound and a perfect signal.
How the digital spectrum is used depends on what we want to do with it. It would be possible, for instance, to transmit text. It is envisaged that digital radios will have a small screen to receive basic information as text. This would take up some capacity and mean less radio channels. As the signals have to be unscrambled it is possible to have subscription radio, using a range of technologies to access signals and pay for specialist programmes such as uninterrupted jazz or classical channels.
The British Government has been active on the digital radio issue and DAB is becoming an item in the trade newspapers at least. The framework for the development of DAB was contained in the 1996 Broadcasting Act. The BBC began an operational service in September, 1995, in the Greater London area, is now building its transmitter network and has already sunk about £10 million into R&D and into developing its transmission system.
The licensing of private radio multiplexes, as the bundle of new digital signals is called, is to begin soon. The recent interest in the future of Britain's Talk Radio commercial station, is believed to be linked to the multiplex that will become part of that licence. The former editor of the Sun, Kelvin McKenzie, is leading one consortium interested in taking over Talk Radio. Rupert Murdoch's News International has a 20 per cent stake in the consortium.
The problem for proponents of digital radio is twofold: digital radios are expensive, existing only as experimental models, and there is no public demand.
The British authorities are making it very attractive for commercial radio companies to invest in digital radio. The carrot is an eight-year extension on an existing analogue licence. However, with sets costing nearly £1,000 apiece there is little incentive for the public, especially as they are unlikely to offer the same degree of portability that radio sets now have.
The other problem is that not alone do radios last longer than television sets, but households often have a few sets, all of which would have to be replaced.
The push towards a digital radio future is seen in two areas, car radios and PC's. Broadcasters are hoping that offers to upgrade car radios to digital receivers when they become available will be an incentive for car owners to move to digital radio. For PC owners, a card costing about £80, could make most PC's into digital radios.
Michael Foley, media correspondent, is at: mfoley@irish-times.ie