Digital radio specialists Celsus have welcomed news that DVLA will start including the new digital radio tick mark on 40 million road tax reminders, raising awareness amongst motorists.
Announcement of the initiative, which began in October, was made by Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy, at the annual industry Radio Festival in Salford. His upbeat address reiterated the future of UK radio is digital. Ongoing infrastructure investment has taken national DAB coverage past 95%; it will reach 97% during 2015.
For automotive, SMMT revealed 246,000 cars, 58% of those registered in September had digital radio fitted as standard, up 79,000 on 2013. The tick mark, administered by Digital Radio UK (DRUK), will help consumers find the best available DAB products and services.
“Cars are an absolutely vital area,” said Mr Vaizey. “The car is where 22% of radio listening occurs and digital radio in car is a much better listening experience.”
Celsus Marketing Director Mark Baker said: “It’s great to know the tick mark will be on the envelope of car tax reminders.
“Too many motorists are still simply not aware that they can upgrade their existing car radio to access DAB choice.”
The DABmotion ROLA universal in car digital radio conversion kit, launched by Celsus in September, already carries the tick mark. Unique AFC auto-retune capability keeps DABmotion ROLA perfectly tuned on the move. The kit, which can typically be fitted in around 30 minutes, receives DAB signal and converts it to FM, broadcasting wirelessly back to the existing audio head unit.
DABmotion ROLA is supported by in-house training which is quality-assured by IMI Awards. Celsus say just half a day’s training enables garages to deliver working DAB in any vehicle.
