Overview of the Act
- The Act gives the Secretary of State a power to make provision about small scale radio multiplex services to create a lighter touch licensing regime. Part 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996 and Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003 create a framework for the licensing by the Office of Communications (Ofcom - the communications regulator) of radio multiplex services. A multiplex is an apparatus for transmitting digital signals, which are in turn decoded by digital radios. Digital radio transmission is licensed separately from radio services. Radio stations must seek the appropriate service licence from Ofcom according to the means of transmission on which they wish to broadcast. The subject of this Act is the licensing of digital radio transmission, rather than radio services.
- Radio multiplex services are currently licensed by Ofcom under Part 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996 - licences are awarded either for national coverage or for local (county-sized) coverage. The parameters of the small scale multiplex services will be set out in the Order that will be made using this power - but in summary the areas that they serve will, in general, be smaller than the county-level local multiplexes serving that area (likely to cover no more than 40% of that area). In areas where there is no local multiplex service in operation, such as Shropshire or the Scottish Borders, then the area that can be covered by a small scale multiplex will be subject to a maximum area of reasonable reception in square kilometres.
- The Act is made up of one substantive section. The Act seeks to allow the Office of Communications ("Ofcom") a degree of flexibility on the areas to be covered by small scale radio multiplex licences. The Act introduces a power to modify the various procedures, provisions and conditions that are attached to the award of radio multiplex licences in Part 2 of the 1996 Act to create a lighter touch licensing regime suitable for the new small scale radio multiplex services.
