Public broadcaster Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) has launched DAB+ digital radio in Jakarta.
Director General of Communications and Public Information of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Ms Niken Widiastuti announced the launch in Jakarta.
The Indonesian radio industry and regulator have worked together to move Indonesian radio onto the digital platform.
Commercial Radio Australia chief executive officer and WorldDAB Asia Pacific Chair, Ms Joan Warner congratulated RRI on the launch.
“Congratulations to Indonesia on being the first major market in the Asia Pacific to launch its permanent DAB+ services. The adoption of the digital radio platform will allow broadcasters to multichannel and provide more content and interaction for listeners in a cost effective and environmentally efficient way. We hope to see other countries in the region making similar announcements soon.”
With a population of more than 250 million people the adoption of DAB+ in Indonesia makes it one of the largest DAB+ markets in the world. DAB/DAB+ digital radio is now available in over 40 countries.
“Indonesia has a strong manufacturing industry in the Asia Pacific in electronics and vehicles and we look forward to working with RRI to showcase the advanced DAB+ features on connected receivers and smartphones,” said Ms Warner.
Herman Zuhdi, Head of LPP RRI Jakarta, said that this transformation is to prove to the media that RRI radio is not outdated and added: “It is one pillar against public stigma that qualified RRI as an old school. With a program like this, RRI is experiencing an unprecedented transformation.”
Indonesian radio broadcasters have previously travelled to Australia to hold technical and policy meetings with key digital radio stakeholders and visited the DAB+ Darwin trial to understand how the technology functioned under similar climatic conditions to Indonesia.
“With the development of technology and facilities owned”, says Herman, “RRI is ready to become a mouthpiece to broadcast government programs that are useful for the people’s interests”.