Germany

[DE] Common Stance of the Regional Media Authorities for the Stockholm Follow-Up Conference

IRIS 2004-2:1/19

Peter Strothmann

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

At its meeting of 27 January 2004 the Conference of Directors of the Regional Media Authorities (Direktorkonferenz der Landesmedienanstalten ­ DLM) adopted a common stance for two international conferences in May 2004 and the year 2006, during which the broadcasting frequencies currently being used, among other things, for analogue terrestrial television are due to be reallocated.

The working party given the task of elaborating a common German stance under the chairmanship of the Federal Ministry of the Economy and Employment had agreed on its conclusions in December 2003. In its report the DLM emphasises the importance of digital radio. Accordingly, in the new provision to be made for a second coverage area for DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), nationwide radio programme services will have to be taken into account and the capacity for nationwide data services will have to be catered for. The DLM believes that in the new provision to be made for the third coverage area for DAB, the supply structures should be arranged in such a way that regional and local broadcasters in Germany's federal States will be readily able to switch over to DAB and make economic progress in this area. It was important for the country as a whole for a consistent and workable proposal to be made for the allocation of frequencies for terrestrial digital television (Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial, DVB-T) and terrestrial digital radio (DAB-T), taking account of all the supply areas declared by the regions.