The DRM Consortium welcomed word that the International Telecommunication Union has published three recommendations on DRM+.

It said this heralds the introduction of the full DRM system, including DRM 30 and DRM+, and that system characteristics and the planning basis for DRM+ now are part of the global regulatory landscape.

Digital Radio Mondiale is a digital broadcasting system for frequencies including LW, MW, SW (AM) and above 30 MHz, bands I, II (FM band) and III. Its proponents say benefits include digital quality as well as features like surround sound, text information and electronic program guide services. The iteration called DRM+ introduces an additional optimized transmission mode.

“The (ITU) process began in October 2009 with DRM’s submission proposing that DRM+ should be added to ITU-R Rec. BS.1114,” the consortium wrote. “This is the ITU recommendation for sound broadcasting in the frequency range 30 MHz to 3 GHz. DAB, HD Radio and ISDB-T were already recommended in this document as Digital Systems A, C and F respectively.”

“The members of the ITU WP6A and SG6 ensured that proper rigor was applied to the proposal; and after several meetings and the submission of test reports and other information, the proposal was adopted for consultation in May 2011 along with two further recommendations concerning the planning basis of DRM+ and its use for the hearing impaired.” Lindsay Cornell, chair of the DRM Technical Committee, and Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Consortium chair, said in the statement that ITU publication is welcome news.

Here are the recommendations in PDF form (DRM+ is called Digital System G in the documents):

“Systems for terrestrial digital sound broadcasting to vehicular, portable and fixed receivers in the frequency range 30–3000 MHz”

“Technical basis for planning of terrestrial digital sound broadcasting in the VHF band”

“Digital radio broadcast service, captioned radio”