Plain English guide
What is small-scale DAB?
You don't need to be a radio engineer to understand it. Here's what small-scale DAB means, who it's for, and why it matters for communities in Suffolk.
Digital radio — without the huge price tag
DAB stands for Digital Audio Broadcasting. It's the technology behind the digital radio stations you find when you press the DAB button on your radio at home or in the car. Most DAB stations broadcast on large, expensive transmitter networks that cover entire regions or the whole country.
Small-scale DAB — sometimes written as SSDAB — is a newer, lower-cost version of the same technology. Instead of covering a whole region, it covers a smaller local area, like a town or a group of nearby communities. And because the transmitters are smaller and cheaper to run, the cost of getting a station on air is dramatically lower.
What is a multiplex?
A DAB multiplex is a single broadcast signal that carries multiple radio stations at the same time — a bit like a block of flats where each flat is a different radio station. The multiplex operator (that's us, Suffolk SSDAB East CIC) builds and runs the transmitter network. Individual stations then rent capacity on the multiplex to reach listeners.
This means a community radio station, a faith group, or a specialist music service doesn't need to own or maintain any transmitters at all. They just pay for their share of the signal, and their station appears on DAB radios across the coverage area.
Who can broadcast on SSDAB?
It's for organisations like yours
Small-scale DAB was designed to open up digital radio to a much wider range of voices. Ofcom — the UK's communications regulator — describes it as a low-cost route for local commercial, community, and specialist music services to broadcast on terrestrial digital radio in smaller local areas.
Community radio stations
Existing community radio stations that currently broadcast on FM or online can add DAB to their distribution, reaching more listeners without replacing what they already do.
Charities and faith groups
A charity, church, mosque, temple or other faith community could run a station serving their congregation and the wider community — in any language.
Cultural and language communities
Suffolk has significant Polish, Romanian, Portuguese and other communities. SSDAB makes it viable to run a station in your own language for your own community.
Schools and colleges
Educational institutions could run a student-led station as a real broadcast service, giving students hands-on experience of professional radio.
Specialist music services
Jazz, classical, folk, bhangra, gospel — whatever the genre, if there's an audience for it in Suffolk, SSDAB makes it possible to reach them on DAB.
New commercial stations
Entrepreneurs and media businesses wanting to launch a new local commercial station in Suffolk can do so at a fraction of the cost of traditional DAB.
How it works
From studio to radio in three steps
You make the programmes
Your station produces its content — music, speech, news, community information — just as it would for any other broadcast. You need a studio and a way to send audio to us, but you don't need any transmitter equipment.
We broadcast the signal
Suffolk SSDAB East CIC operates the multiplex. We receive your audio, encode it in the DAB+ format, and broadcast it from our transmitter network across the coverage area. Your station appears on DAB radios alongside all the other stations on the multiplex.
Listeners tune in on any DAB radio
Anyone with a DAB radio in the coverage area can find your station by name — no internet connection required. DAB radios are now in the majority of UK homes and almost all new cars.
What about Ofcom?
Ofcom is the UK government regulator for broadcasting and communications. Before any small-scale DAB multiplex can go on air, Ofcom must advertise the licence, assess applications, and award it to the organisation it considers best placed to serve the area.
Suffolk SSDAB East CIC is preparing to apply for licences to operate two multiplexes in Suffolk — East Suffolk SSDAB, covering Ipswich and Felixstowe, and West Suffolk SSDAB, covering Bury St Edmunds, Thetford and Mildenhall. We are at the pre-application stage. No licence has been awarded yet.
Please note: Coverage maps and technical details shown on this site are proposed and predicted. They are subject to Ofcom licensing, final technical approval, and transmitter site agreements.
Interested in broadcasting on Suffolk DAB?
If you represent a community group, charity, faith organisation, school or radio station and you'd like to know more about broadcasting on the Suffolk SSDAB multiplexes, register your interest now. There's no commitment at this stage.