Modernization in Romania Opens Digital Benefit

Michael Hedges June 1, 2005

With phase one of its modernization program complete, Romanian transmission services provider Radiocomunicatii was the natural host of a two day symposium on what the future holds for radio broadcasters.

“Romania is a case study in modernization, “ said John Hall, manager of Radio Programs and High-Power Products for Harris Broadcast Communication Division’s Radio Broadcast Systems, opening two days of meeting and conversations. Harris officials were also not bashful in pointing out that the recently completed $85 million upgrade of broadcast and communication technologies was the world’s largest single system upgrade.

Over 100 senior managers and government officials attended the symposium, largely from Eastern European countries but also from France, Italy, Israel, Algeria and Russia. Symposium organizers expressed delighted surprise at the response, nearly every invited guest attended. Participants universally agreed that time had run out on aging technologies, now a generation past its prime.

Such system upgrades are never simple matters. Romania’s Minister for Communications and Information Technology Zsolt Nagy pointed out that provisions in the country’s media law had to be changed before the project could go forward, exiting the OIRT (66-72Mhz) band to comply with international standards and adopting a legal framework to allow DAB and DRM trials. The facilities upgrade was provided to SN Radiocomunicatii (SNR), Romania’s state-owned communication services provider. Nagy also made clear that the high costs of maintaining the old technologies were not sustainable.

“Radiocomunicatii was formed in 1998, “ explained SNR president Micea Cazan, showing the scope of change for all service providers. “We started with two customers. Now we have 600.” The company was split from Romania Telecom in 1991 and now provides broadcast, mobile and broadband services.

One of those customers and a primary beneficiary of the system upgrade is public broadcaster Radio Romania (Societatea Romana de Radiodifusione – SRR). Radio Romania produces four national programs, international channel Radio Bucharest International plus regional and local stations for the countries 22 million inhabitants.

The most important goal achieved for SRR Radio Romania was improved coverage. Romania has the largest land mass in Eastern Europe, apart from Russia and Ukraine. The Carpathian mountains cover about one-third of the country, splitting it like a backward L. The mountain range poses constraints on both FM and MW transmissions for the public broadcaster.

“We have about a 50% market share,” said SRR President Dragos Sculeanu. “We’ve been slipping, close to losing the younger audience. The journalists told me listeners couldn’t hear their wonderful programs broadcast from transmitters from the ‘50’s and ‘60’s.”

“Huge projects,” Sculeanu said, “need huge resources.” He credited Minister Nagy, at 36 one of Romania’s youngest political leaders, for pushing the modernization agenda. Part of that agenda might include DRM transmissions for Radio Bucharest International and DAB broadcast in the capital, Bucharest.

“Expectations are moving forward faster than the journalists and technical people,” said Sculeanu. Noting their cooperation in moving the system upgrade forward, Minister Nagy responded, “And Romanian consumers have high expectations.”

SNR’s Stefan Mulinaru said the modernization project served to make their services more efficient by decreasing operation and maintenance costs. SNR employs 2,400 at five district facilities, the Radiocommunications Training Center at Tancabesti and the Bucharest headquarters.

The loan package facilitated by the United States Export-Import Bank was a key element, said Harris’ John Hall, which sealed the deal for Harris over several other companies bidding on the project. $5 million in financing was also provided to SNR for civil work and buildings.

“Radio is the last medium to be digitized,“ lamented WRN President Jeff Cohen, speaking to the symposium on behalf of the DRM Consortium. Cohen listed advantages of DRMs open standard, telling the group that retaining much of the analogue infrastructure means “you don’t have to start again.”

Cohen suggested that as the OIRT band is abandoned for FM broadcasting it could be used for DRM transmissions.

But Cohen reiterated what digital broadcasting proponents have learned: “The public doesn’t buy technology for technologies sake. These days people aren’t satisfied with just a couple of programs.”

“The key to success in the UK with DAB,” said Cohen, “was public/private cooperation.” UK commercial broadcasters and the BBC launched several DAB-only channels and mounted extensive marketing to promote digital radio, resulting in sales of over one million receivers by the end of 2004.

“Digitization is no longer just a technical matter,” said Morcilo Simic radio director of Radio Television Serbia as the meetings turned to issues more specific to Eastern Europe.

“The chicken and egg problem is a false story,” he added. “The mistake of DAB was the high price of the first receivers.”

SRR’s Dragos Sculeanu suggested that one solution would be to develop a regional manufacturer for receivers in Eastern Europe.

“One of several messages we tried to convey at the symposium,” reiterated Harris’ John Hall, “is that broadcasters need to effectively compete with all the other new technologies that are available to their listeners today outside of traditional radio. A new, younger, technology-eager generation in Romania will be attracted to DRM and the ability to receive the names of songs, name of artist, product advertising and even downloads to their car or home radios.  

“This technology is very new, but having broadcasters recognize that they must upgrade their equipment; that they must compete not only with commercial radio stations but other technologies too; and that the next generation is slipping away will, we believe, create a sense of urgency within the broadcast community to explore DRM as a way to ensure new audiences and listenership for the future.” 

Previously published in Radio World International, May 2005, in a slightly different form.