Radio stations in Southern Europe

[e-dawg]

While I was vacationing in Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal, and Italy). I notice that their radio stations spacing is only .2 and in the major metropolitan cities. You cannot escape the crowded FM band. How can the government allocate radio stations that are .2 spacing apart. I.E. 95.8, 96.0, 96.2, 96.5, 96.7 etc.? I cannot tune in the stations without the other stations bleeding onto the station. Just checkout the FM dial in Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Florence, and Rome.

 

[smorris]

The answer's different in different countries...

Spain:
Has rampant piracy because the official regulator is very weak politically compared with the radio stations. COPE's Madrid FM transmitter is legally meant to be a low powered station for one suburb, for instance. There are also many community stations operating on disputed permits (issued by regional/local authorities whose power to issue them is disputed). On top of that, there are loads of totally unlicenced operators, commercial and religious. There have been repeated attempts at crackdowns, but they tend only to affect smaller operators with fewer political connections.

Portugal: Not sure - think this is just they have lower separation standards, and many of the 0.2 spacings there are with stations not officially meant to cover Lisbon itself.

Italy: The FM band in Italy is pretty much chaos, because they've historically had no regulation at all. It was a total free market from legalisation of commercial radio (late 1970s?) until the early 1990s, with the only real regulation being that one station could take another to court about interference (but cases drag on for many years). In the late 1980s there was an "war of the wattages" where operators competed to blast each other off the airwaves; after this government intervened to ban new transmitters being added and with selective bans (e.g. special permits are required within Rome's city limits, power limits at specific sites). No new signals are now allowed, but all transmitters counted in the early 90s census are allowed to stay. In theory they shouldn't move or increase power, but they often do. There are loopholes if you've got sufficient cash and the right political views (if you can be relied on not to criticise their political party owners the Northern League, Radio Padania Libera might open up a new frequency for you and then pass on the licence, since they've managed to get a special exemption from the rules...)

Turkey and Greece: Like Italy pre-1990s. Total chaos, except for city council rules in some major cities.

By the way, FM radios sold in southern Europe tend to be pretty good quality - bad ones which would pass muster in the USA or Northern Europe tend to get taken back to the shop with refunds demanded...

 

[Tincap]

When you try remote listening, on MW, those pesky Spaniards are everywhere!

~BG

 

[Ger]

piracy been targeted my CMT - Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones

over last 4 weeks , Pirate Radio station have been getting emails letters and call from Telecommunications engineering with news of been told two shut down , been backed up by calls in some case ,

FOLLOWING RECEIPT OF A NOTIFICATION FROM THE GENERALITAT ESPANA IN ACCORDANCE WITH “LEY 1/2006, DE 19 ABRIL, DE LA GENERALITAT, DE SECTOR AUDIOVISUAL . Attorney General office and Telecommunications Lawyer

the Pirate Radio station recived letter of complaint notification off illegal or unregulated radio transmission

Some estimated 3500 ‘pirate’ radio stations in operation across the country. In some areas the number of illegal stations is triple that of the legal, and those who operate with a licence say that the advertising market is harshly affected. , crackdown has been a long time coming with many stations operating from little more than a bedroom in an apartment, not paying taxes and taking advertising revenue from local businesses on which they are not paying IVA . with one station been having court action owner on the island of Gran Canaria buy consorteum of investers

 

[smorris]

over last 4 weeks , Pirate Radio station have been getting emails letters and call from Telecommunications engineering with news of been told two shut down , been backed up by calls in some case ,

I bet the almost equally illegal transmitters used by the large commercial networks haven't been affected - COPE's 100.7 transmitter in Madrid to give just one example of very many, is officially licenced for local coverage of a nearby town at a tiny fraction of the power actually used...