NAF concerned about traffic messages using DAB adapters

Illustration. Driving a carIllustration. Driving a car.Photo: pixabay.com

Very few of today’s Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) radio adapters support interruption of the transmission with traffic messages, Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) warns.

They think that a dedicated traffic channel is only a halfway solution.

NAF has surveyed the adapter market, and most have no Traffic Announcement (TA) system, according to communications consultant at NAF, Nils Sødal.

– This is a common feature of the FM network. Whichever radio station you’re listening to, or if you’re listening to music or even has turned down the volume, on the car stereo, traffic announcements will intercede if TA is activated, says Sødal.

– We are distraught that this feature has not been a priority in the change to DAB. Who are responsible for this oversight, we do not know.

But it should have been a prerequisite for the adapters sold to Norwegian car owners that they can take receive important traffic information, he continues.

The state owned Norwegian Broadcast Company (NRK) has established a separate radio channel for traffic messages, called NRK Traffic.

– This is a halfway solution which require large number of users to change radio station to catch up on important messages, says Nils Sødal.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today