Herefordshire & Worcestershire Launch Update – 26th October 2013

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The transmitters are built and services have their encoders and connectivity.  The only thing continuing to cause delays to this multiplex is chronic telecom distribution delays to the transmitters.

Our contingency is satellite distribution which has required links to be put in place, this has caused some extra work but these are ready to go at Ridge Hill and Malvern.  It is not possible for us to use satellite at Bromsgrove, and so this transmitter will have to wait for its telecoms lines before it can go live.  This is expected in the coming weeks although delivery dates haven’t proved to be terribly reliable.

With this plan we are planning to commence “barker” audio from the start of the November with live audio tests likely to be running in the lead up to the new proposed launch towards the end of November.

Surrey Launch Update – 26th October 2013

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We are currently on track for our December launch – below is a summary of progress:

BT circuits are in to the majority of service provider sites with work progressing to plan at others; we still read delivery dates a little cautiously given the delays experienced in other areas of the UK although Surrey has fared better in general.  Interface equipment for studios is being built ready for delivery and installation.  We are tentatively looking at installing the multiplex rack and having some live data running through the systems in mid-November.

On the transmitter side there is lots underway:

Guildford –

  • Telemetry circuit delivery planned 25/10/13
  • Build to commence first week of November
  • Commissioning requested w/c 18th November

Reigate –

  • Telemetry Circuit complete
  • Decommissioning of existing racks completed this week
  • Build to commence w/c 27th October
  • Commissioning requested w/c 18th November

Crystal Palace –

  • Build completion due early next week.
  • Commissioning requested w/c 11th November 

Gloucestershire Launch

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A busy morning for the MuxCo team as we officially launched the Gloucestershire multiplex this morning at the Pittville Pump Rooms in Cheltenham. Here’s some pictures from the launch (thanks Vinnie!)

Links:

The launch from the BBC’s Points West:

Launch Audio:

Here’s the official press release:

On Friday 18 October, Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood and Gloucester rugby star Nick Wood will officially switch on two new DAB digital radio transmitters, giving over 400,000 listeners new local stations on DAB in the Gloucestershire area. The switch-on means listeners will be able to receive 4 local radio stations – BBC Radio Gloucestershire, Gold, Heart and Sunshine Radio for the first time on DAB digital radio.

To receive the new services, listeners with digital radios may have to re-tune their sets. Find out more at getdigitalradio.com/retune.

The big switch-on takes place at the iconic Grade 1-listed Pittville Pump Rooms in Cheltenham. The two new transmitters at Churchdown Hill and Stockend Wood take local digital radio coverage for these stations from zero to over 400,000 listeners in the area, and add over 450km of roads into DAB coverage for the first time. A further two transmitters will be launched in Cirencester and Icombe Hill towards the end of the year, improving coverage even further.

In the last 10 months build-out of DAB digital radio has brought local DAB coverage to over 5 million people for the first time, taking local DAB population coverage from 66% to 72%. By the end of this year, local DAB will have been made available to an additional 6.5 million listeners across the UK.

This switch-on comes the same week that the BBC announced plans to add 162 new digital radio transmitters to improve national DAB coverage for its national network stations. This expansion to more than 97% of the population will include two new transmitters in Gloucestershire.

Government has said they will make a decision on radio switchover at the end of 2013. In Gloucestershire, 51% of homes have a DAB digital radio – ahead of the UK as a whole, and in Q2 2013, 37.9% of radio listening was digital. A cumulative total of 18 million digital radio sets has been sold to date in the UK, including DAB radios and internet radios. 41.5% of new cars now come fitted with digital radio as standard (CAP/SMMT Sept 2013).

Martin Horwood, MP for Cheltenham, said: “Gloucestershire is way ahead on digital radio, with over half of us having a digital radio at home. I’m really pleased that the new DAB transmitters mean that our excellent local radio stations can now be received on digital radio at home and in their car.”
Nick Wood, Gloucester Rugby star, ahead of the team’s game against Munster on Saturday, said: “It is brilliant that all the Gloucester Rugby matches will now be broadcast in crystal clear quality on DAB digital radio. As a sports fan, I love the fact that digital offers such a great choice of sports content on the radio.”
Nathan Sykes, from the band The Wanted, [pictured] said: “Growing up in Gloucestershire, music and radio was so important to me. I am really pleased that from today people can listen to their favourite shows on DAB digital radio.”

Jane Ostler, Director of Digital Radio UK, said: “This is great news for over 400,000 people in Gloucestershire as until now they have not been able to receive their favourite local stations on DAB. Boosting coverage for this area means listeners can tune into their favourite local stations as well as national BBC and commercial ones.”

Gregory Watson, Managing Director of MuxCo said: “We are committed to extending digital coverage through local transmitters across the UK and this switch-on, which gives 400,000 listeners access to our stations on DAB, is another important step for our industry.”

Mark Jones, Editor of BBC Radio Gloucestershire, said: “We are delighted that BBC Radio Gloucestershire will be available on DAB for the first time. It brings improved reception to many parts of the county and gives us the opportunity to offer our full range of programmes in digital quality. As well as our radio programmes, the latest news, sport weather and travel information will also scroll across listeners DAB radio sets. We are delighted to say that commentary from every Gloucester Rugby game – domestic and European, home & away -will be available on DAB.”

Marcus Langreiter of Global Radio said: “We’re excited to be able to bring both Heart and Gold to digital radio in Gloucestershire. We know our listeners love the great music we play, and now they can listen in digital quality.”

Ginny Murfin from Sunshine Radio said: “It’s great that Sunshine Radio will be available to listeners on DAB for the first time, bringing local news and music to our listeners, with the digital benefits of easy tuning and scrolling information.”

Surrey Launch Update – 3rd October 2013

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We are making good progress with our Surrey Multiplex and still on track for a December launch.  This area does not appear to be subject to the same chronic BT delays as other areas of the UK and it has been a refreshing change to see the project plans covered in green markers not red ones.

The lines to most of the service providers are now in place, with encoders and routers to be installed in November.

The equipment for the transmitter builds is in hand; Crystal Palace antenna work will take place by 14th October with Reigate and Guildford to be completed by the end of October.  Ofcom commissioning will be arranged to take place in November.  Weather becomes an issue for mast work at this time of year so we will be pleased if the current mild conditions continue.

In terms of distribution the network is already in place; London enjoys comprehensive service for telecoms and so the scale of work to connect our ring is immeasurably simpler than in other areas where brand new lines have had to be delivered.

In answer to some queries the second phase of transmitters (Stoke D’Abernon & Hungry Hill) is scheduled to launch in April 2014.

Gloucestershire/Hereford & Worcester Test Plans

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Today we’ve just started test transmissions for our Gloucestershire multiplex, in preparation for the official launch on the 18th October.

This is a week or so later than we have recently blogged about. We’re also not testing the Herefordshire and Worcestershire multiplex, which we had previously mentioned we were planning to have on air at the same time. I just wanted to provide an update about why this is the case.

In some previous updates we’ve talked about some issues with BT. The way the multiplexes work is that we hook up stations to our network by putting in special lines into their studios. These are often special versions of broadband that guarantee certain bandwidth levels that means we will always receive their signals. These all come into our transmission provider’s multiplex centre and are wrapped together into a multiplex feed, this is then sent by telecoms lines to each of the transmitters.

Quite often transmitter locations are in the middle of nowhere, so our options for getting lines (and our signals) into the areas are quite limited. BT, as the UK’s legacy network provider, are often the only people that have the right connectivity to deliver our services. If they have problems or delays there’s often very little that we can do but wait.

And that’s the issue. BT currently have significant network issues that are affecting connectivity for our multiplexes in Mid and West Wales, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

To get Mid and West Wales and Gloucestershire on-air we have had to think somewhat creatively to get around these BT issues. So, both of these multiplexes are currently being fed by satellite. We’ve installed equipment at the multiplex centre to take the multiplex signal send it up to a satellite and then installed dishes at the transmitter sites to downlink the signal to get it to the transmitters.

As we are hopeful that this is only a temporary solution we are using existing equipment from Arqiva to achieve this somewhat over-engineered solution. Our issue with Herefordshire and Worcestershire is that we have now used all their ‘spare’ equipment on the other two multiplexes so can’t deploy the same solution for Hertfordshire and Worcestershire.

We’re working with BT to try and fix the connectivity at one of the three sites so we can either feed Herefordshire and Worcestershire direct or use some satellite equipment released from getting direct feeds online to M&WW or Gloucestershire.

To say we’re frustrated about these delays is a massive understatement. We’re having discussions at the highest levels of Arqiva and BT to get back on track.

Also, please remember that the Gloucestershire tests are just that – tests. This means that there may well be downtime for the multiplex or individual services between now and launch.

MuxCo Gloucestershire Update – 19th September 2013

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Test “Barker” channels will be running in the next few days and full channels should be audible around the 30th September 2013.

The launch transmitters will cover approximately 67% of the coverage area, equating to around 450 thousand households.  The plan is to launch an additional two transmitters at Icomb Hill and Cirencester in December 2013 to increase this to 92.9% or 616 thousand households (Outdoor Mobile measurement).  The technical work is on track for these second phase transmitters but they may be subject to the BT distribution delays which are still affecting some of our multiplexes.

More information about the line-up and coverage maps are here:

Surrey Launch Update – 12th September 2013

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We are on track for our December 2013 launch.

As of  6th September all transmitter sites have been surveyed with the exception of Crystal Palace which is scheduled for this week. Orders for transmitters and telecoms lines  have been placed – delivery time expected to be October but until we have the precise dates we don’t consider this confirmed.

Lots of work underway with both us and our transmission subcontractor in getting in touch with the service providers to establish the readiness of their racks rooms, confirm their site details and contact numbers.

We’ve uploaded some maps which demonstrate the coverage.  Our plan is for the multiplex to broadcast with transmitters at Crystal Palace, Guildford and Reigate with a second phase of Leatherhead and Hungry Hill.

Transmission Map (Launch)

Transmission Map (Final)