FAQ - Radio

DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting. The "+" stands for a development in the worldwide diffusion norms for digital terrestrial radio (DTR).

DAB+ is a digital radio modulation and transmission technology. Like DTT and FM, it uses the terrestrial hertzian diffusion network.

The DAB+ standard brings benefits to both listeners and radio stations.

For listeners:

• Better sound quality
• Greater continuity of listeners on the move
• The arrival of new stations
• Enrichment of the audio stream with associated digital data (information of all kinds, song titles, logos and images such as record sleeves, etc.).

For radio stations :

• Pooling of broadcasting costs by grouping stations on the same frequency within a multiplex.
• Extended coverage in a context of FM band saturation

Assurance of survival in the future digital ecosystem, in synergy with 5G mobile networks.

No, because unlike DTT for TV, DAB+ technology has the advantage of being able to coexist with radio's traditional broadcasting method, the FM band. This means that digital terrestrial radio can work in tandem with FM diffusion, just as DTT quickly replaced analog television diffusion in France. Of course, as with FM, reception of DAB+ radio will remain totally free of charge.

As with DTT, your reception equipment must be compatible. While DAB+-compatible radios can receive FM signals, the reverse is not always true.

To receive digital radio, you'll need the right equipment. There are a wide range of DAB+ receivers available at very different costs, starting from a few dozen euros. Since the end of 2019, all radio receivers sold in France, except car radios, must integrate DAB+. As of mid-2020, all car radios in new cars sold in France will also incorporate DAB+. The European Electronic Communications Code, which must be transposed into French law by the end of 2020, also makes provision for DAB+ integration in radio receivers.

A tunnel, if long enough, can block the propagation of waves used for FM and DAB+. If you receive FM in a tunnel, it's because a scheme has been deployed to retransmit the broadcasts (NB: this scheme must be authorized by Arcom). To the best of Arcom's knowledge, no French tunnels are currently equipped with DAB+ devices, but this may develop over the next few years.

Finally, FM and DAB+ compatible car radios can automatically shift from FM to DAB+ and from DAB+ to FM if the program is shown on both technologies. In some cases, this means you can listen to a radio station on DAB+ before entering a tunnel, continue to listen to it on FM inside the tunnel, then switch back to DAB+ on leaving the tunnel.

To provide information for private and professional users, and to make it easier for everyone to access DAB+ technology, Arcom has developed and made available an interactive service, regularly updated, which guarantees published information on the availability of DAB+ in your region.

Ma Radio DAB+ lets you find out whether your department or town receives DAB+ radio (the service gives a list of stations received), or whether DAB+ reception is planned for your area in the near future.

Pleaseclick here:

1. Select your overseas department or territory. On a computer or tablet: Click on the map of France or choose your department or overseas collectivity from the drop-down menu. On a cell phone: Access the drop-down menu or enter the name of your département.
2. A message informing you of DAB+ deployment in your department or overseas collectivity appears. It lists the communes covered by DAB+ (already with DAB+) or those that will eventually be covered by DAB+ (with DAB+ made provision for).
3. Click on the commune of your choice on the map of the département, or in the list of communes in the département.
4. If the DAB+ radio supply is scheduled to develop in this commune, one or more information messages will appear. If this commune is already covered by DAB+, the list of radios that can be received is displayed.
5. To find out more about the radios received in a commune, click on the name of a radio, and a description of the radio and its logo will appear in a superimposed window. These descriptions and logos will become available progressively. You can move from one radio to another by clicking on the left or right arrows.
6. To change commune in the same département or ultra-marine local authority as the one chosen in step 2, return to the département or local authority page [or use the arrows on the commune page to go to the previous or next commune in alphabetical order].
7. To change department or ultra-marine territorial unit, return to the map of France

The coverage of radios shown on DAB+ is calculated by simulation. The settings used by Arcom for this calculation are not necessarily representative of the performance of the best DAB+ receivers.

Furthermore, the criterion adopted to decide whether a commune is covered is a relative one: if the calculations used to estimate coverage indicate that 50% or more of the commune's population is covered, then the commune is considered to be covered.

What's more, during the DAB+ roll-out phase, frequencies have a greater range, as not all the planned transmitters have yet been switched on.

Finally, if you live near borders, you may receive radio stations from neighboring countries shown on DAB+. Ma Radio DAB+ only takes into account radios authorized by Arcom.

For these four reasons, you may be receiving DAB+ radio even though Arcom considers you to be in an area without coverage.

The first thing to check is your receiver's compatibility with DAB+. An FM-only receiver cannot receive radios shown on DAB+.

If you have a DAB+-compatible receiver and it doesn't detect any radios after a radio search, you may be in one of the following situations:

• You may be within the scope of your community's population not covered by DAB+. In Ma Radio DAB+, a commune is considered to be covered when 50% or more of its population is covered;
• The signal received by your receiver inside your home may be too weak. This is because reception of terrestrial radio broadcasts is more difficult in buildings. You can try placing your receiver near a window, remembering to extend its antenna to improve reception quality, or, if your receiver allows it, you can stand outside your home, in an open space if possible;

In some cases, the receiver may be impeded by the presence of a nearby antenna of an electronic communications network.

The aim of Ma Radio DAB+ is to inform you about current DAB+ coverage and future rollouts. There are two reasons why your municipality may not be listed in Ma Radio DAB+:

Less than 50% of the population of your commune is considered to be covered: Ma Radio DAB+ then considers that your commune is not covered.

• However, if nearby communities receive DAB+, you may still be able to receive DAB+.
• On the other hand, if none of the communes near yours receive DAB+, then it's very likely that you can't yet receive DAB+.

Your municipality is not included in the planned DAB+ rollout.

• If your commune is close to another commune where DAB+ deployment is made provision for, you may also be able to receive DAB+ when this commune is covered. Keep up to date with Ma Radio DAB+: as soon as Arcom has the technical information it needs to assess the coverage of this and surrounding communes, it will indicate which radios can be received and when broadcasts are due to start. Your commune could then appear on Ma Radio DAB+.
• Although the planned deployment of DAB+ does not concern your commune or any of the communes in the vicinity, it may nevertheless develop in the short or medium term.
  • In fact, the deployment of authorized national radio stations and six of the seven Radio France stations throughout mainland France is guided by quantitative coverage obligations set by Arcom. However, these stations are free to choose where they wish to expand as they go along. As soon as Arcom has the technical information it needs to assess the coverage of these stations, it will update Ma Radio DAB+.

Only the provisional deployment of private local or national radio stations authorized for DAB+ at local level, and of France Bleu, is subject to a multi-year roadmap, for which Ma Radio DAB+ provides information for the most important communes several years in advance.

The development of Ma Radio DAB+ to indicate whether a given address is covered by DAB+ is one of the means envisaged for the medium term. This development is more computationally intensive and more complex for DAB+ than for DTT, which is the main reason why Arcom has decided to support the roll-out of DAB+ with the Ma Radio DAB+ service in its current form.

In this situation, the first thing to do is to re-store the radios on your receiver. If, after this re-tagging, you continue to receive only some of the radios listed by Ma Radio DAB+, then this could be due to the fact that not all radios are broadcast in the same way (in more technical terms, you receive some of the multiplexes indicated as received in your commune by Ma Radio DAB+ but not others, as their coverage does not necessarily overlap).

Nevertheless, you can never rule out a temporary problem affecting a radio's diffusion. You can contact that radio station to report the problem. And if you've ever used a fixed receiver in several different towns (at home, at work, on vacation...), it's possible that it keeps a statement of case for all the radios it has received in those towns: as with FM, the radios available on DAB+ vary from one town to another.

For information on digital terrestrial radio in France, browse the interactive Ma radio DAB+ program map.

After entering the desired location (department then town), you'll find out which digital radios are currently available, as well as information on future rollouts.

To find out your individual reception forecasts and the programs already available: enter the name of the département or overseas France territory in the search field, or click on the map at the desired location.

Yes, because unlike DTT for television, DAB+ technology has the advantage of being able to coexist with radio's traditional broadcasting method, the FM band. This means that digital terrestrial radio can work in tandem with FM diffusion, just as DTT had rapidly replaced analog television diffusion in France. Of course, as with FM, reception of DAB+ radio will remain totally free of charge.

As with DTT, your reception equipment must be DAB+ compatible. While DAB+-compatible radios can receive FM signals, the reverse is not always true.

So you'll need to get the right equipment to receive digital radio. There are a wide range of DAB+ receivers available at very different costs, starting from a few dozen euros. Since the end of 2019, all radio receivers sold in France, except car radios, must integrate DAB+. As of mid-2020, all car radios in new cars sold in France have also integrated DAB+. The European Electronic Communications Code also makes provision for the integration of DAB+ in radio receivers.

The French radio landscape is characterized by its richness and the sheer number of different services on offer.
The radio supply varies from city to city.
That's why listeners at home or on the move often have to ask themselves this question:

What radio stations can I listen to where I am?

Simply enter the desired listening location, and Ma Radio FM and Ma Radio DAB+ will display a list of radio programs that can be heard in the commune indicated.

For Ma Radio FM, the radio's broadcast frequency and the name of the point from which the program is shown are indicated (e.g. France Inter on 87.8 MHz from the Eiffel Tower).

In France, there are public radio stations on the one hand, and several categories of private radio stations on the other, some with a local or regional remit, others with a national remit. The question of nationwide diffusion therefore only arises for the latter.

Radio stations are shown from transmitters installed in specific areas. Radio France, a state-owned company, has priority rights to frequencies in all areas of the country. It distributes these frequencies as it sees fit among its various stations (France Inter, France Info, Le Mouv', France Musique, France Culture, etc.). Private radio stations, on the other hand, must obtain a diffusion authorization from Arcom in order to be present in a given zone.

Browse the page on setting up and regulating a radio station.

If a radio station is not present throughout France, this may be due to one or more factors:

• the radio station is local or regional, and was not designed for national diffusion;
• this radio station, although national in scope, did not apply, for reasons of its own, to the latest calls for candidates launched by Arcom in areas where it is not present;
• the radio did apply, but was not selected in the most recent calls for applications on the basis of one or more of the above criteria.

Generally speaking, the number of FM frequencies is limited, which means that Arcom cannot fully satisfy all operators' demands. In addition, there are few opportunities to issue new authorizations, as existing frequencies are allocated for a five-year period, renewable twice.
Furthermore, not all areas have the same number of frequencies at their disposal, due in particular to their geographical peculiarities: in border areas, for example, Arcom must ensure that any frequencies granted do not interfere with frequencies used by the neighboring country. In mountainous regions, frequencies have a shorter range than in lowland areas, because the terrain hinders wave propagation.

If you notice a problem with radio reception from an antenna (FM radio, digital terrestrial radio), we advise you to check whether the station of your choice is being shown in the zone concerned. To do this, browse the My FM Radio and My DAB+ Radio applications (in french)

If the station is indeed being shown in the area concerned and the reception problem persists, you can report it to Arcom.

TV channels and radio stations are responsible for the content of the programs they show. They are free to decide which programs to air, depending on the audience they wish to reach and the diffusion rights they have acquired, as long as they abide by their legal obligations. Arcom does not intervene in their programming.

To exercise your right of reply to radio and TV broadcasters, you can contact the channel or station concerned directly (click here to access the directory of operators). For all other questions and comments relating to the content of a program or its programming, you can contact the viewer and listener relations departments directly. You will find the contact details of these mediation services for the main national channels.

A web radio is a radio station shown on the Internet by streaming, a technical process of continuous reading that enables a file to be listened to or viewed as it is temporarily downloaded.

The regime applicable to these services is defined by article 33-1 of the French law of September 30, 1986. It makes provision for these services to be subject to the Arcom convention or, by way of derogation, to the declaration system.

The provider of radio must sign :

• an agreement with Arcom if its annual budget is equal to or greater than €75,000
• a declaration with Arcom if the annual budget is less than €75,000.

To help you submit your declaration or request for an agreement, there is an explanatory leaflet available:

Browse the form for declaring a radio service on the Internet

There are no formalities to be completed if the radio station already has FM authorization. Its terrestrial authorization allows it to be broadcast on the Internet.