Norway becomes world's first country to switch off FM radio

Norway has become the first country to switch off FM radio despite concerns about the move being premature. The northern county of Nordland stopped broadcasting using analogue frequencies on Wednesday as the Government plans to roll out digital-only radio over the course of the year. Oslo hopes the measure will save 200 million Norwegian krone (£19 million) a year as the country has struggled to make sure its ageing FM equipment still emits signals over its vast, sparsely populated territory, which is covered in signal-blocking fijords and forests. Stephen Lax, a lecturer in Communication Technology at the University of Leeds, told the New Scientist that Norway's geography made analogue radio transmission particularly difficult. He said: "Norway has many mountains and valleys that the robust nature of DAB can help with. "Additionally, its FM radio infrastructure was coming to the end of its life, so they would've needed to either replace it or fully commit to DAB anyway.