AM replacement

The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) system has been designed as a replacement solution for AM bands (LW, MW, SW) offering a better audio quality and easy tuning while keeping the advantage of a large coverage area with few transmitters.

DRM transmission can fit into spectrum space allocated for AM channels and so offers the possibility for a smooth transition from AM to DRM.

DRM+

DRM+ is an extension of DRM to work in the frequency bands over 30MHz, but below 174Mhz so FM band (band II) and band I. Capacity is increased to reach up to 185kbit/s. This allows DRM+ to broadcast with enhanced audio quality and multimedia. DRM+ is the European digital candidate for FM band in the long term when FM broadcast will start to be phased out. Hybrid analogue/digital transmission using the same antenna infrastructure is also possible.

Also for local broadcasters

DRM/DRM+ networks generally transport one or eventually two or three programmes and they have small spectrum footprints. This makes DRM/DRM+ especially suitable for international broadcasting, but also for small or local broadcasters that cannot afford being in a multiplex.

It is important to mention that DRM/DRM+ shares many system functionalities with the DAB family of systems . For example, the audio coding is exactly the same as DAB+ and the multimedia features specifications such as EPG, Slideshow, and text services are the same.