The Government promotes DAB+ digital radio and requires RTVE to cover 80% of the population

The Council of Ministers on November 3, 2026, approved Royal Decree 958/2026, of November 4, which adopts measures to promote DAB+ technology in the terrestrial digital sound broadcasting service. The regulation, published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) no. 276 on Thursday, November 5, 2026 (Sec. I, pages 148286 to 148296), carries the official reference BOE-A-2026-23177 and enters into force three months after its publication, in February 2027.

The initiative originates from the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, whose head, Óscar López Águeda, proposed it following the opinion of the Council of State. It is based on article 86.a) of Law 11/2022, of June 28, General Telecommunications Law, which grants the Government the authority to approve national technical broadcasting plans, and on the exclusive state competence of article 149.1.21. of the Constitution.

The starting point is Royal Decree 1287/1999, of July 23, which approved the National Technical Plan for terrestrial digital sound broadcasting and introduced DAB technology. The text acknowledges that the audience for this modality “remains comparatively small” compared to other forms of broadcasting, and notes that Directive (EU) 2018/1972, transposed by Law 11/2022, already requires new category M vehicles to include terrestrial digital broadcasting receivers.

Exclusive broadcasts in DAB+ and up to twelve channels per network

The state-wide service will be provided exclusively using DAB+ technology, while DAB will initially be maintained in the regional and local spheres. Each holder may voluntarily and unilaterally decide to broadcast in DAB+, following notification to the competent body of their community, and that body may set the date for exclusive DAB+ at any time.

• DAB broadcasts must comply with ETSI specification TS 103 466; DAB+ broadcasts must use MPEG HE-AACv2 encoding according to TS 102 563.
• Loudness shall be normalized in accordance with the ITU-R BS.1770 standard and the EBU R-128 recommendation.
• A DAB network allows a maximum of six channels; an exclusively DAB+ network allows up to twelve.
• Holders may dedicate up to 20% of their capacity to additional services other than sound broadcasting.
• The FU-E network will be used as determined by a ministerial order; until then, it may be used for authorized tests and experimental uses.

Coverage required for RTVE and state licensees

The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española S.M.E. shall operate the full capacity of the MF-I network and must reach 50% of the population within six months of entry into force, 70% within 18 months—including 50% of provincial capitals and 50% of the highway and motorway network—and 80% within 30 months, with at least 70% of populations over 25,000 inhabitants and 70% of highways and motorways.

Current holders of state licenses shall operate their channels via the MF-II network with a minimum coverage of 20% of the population. If the audience share of the digital service exceeds 10% of the overall radio audience, the ministry may set higher objectives by order, following a hearing with the affected parties.

Receivers, security alerts, and CNMC registry

Receiving devices marketed in Spain must inform the user clearly and in detail about their DAB and DAB+ capabilities, including alert functions, and allow simple access to terrestrial services and the modification of default settings. DAB+ network managers must enable the ASA automatic security alert system in accordance with ETSI specifications TS 104 089 and TS 104 090.

The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (National Commission on Markets and Competition) is responsible for maintaining the Registry of terrestrial digital sound broadcasting information parameters and resolving technical management conflicts between entities sharing the same network. The competent bodies, both state and regional, must notify it of any decision regarding networks and licenses within fifteen days of taking effect, and the Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones e Infraestructuras Digitales (Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures) shall officially modify the affected public radio-electric domain titles.

The regulation repeals obsolete provisions of Real Decreto 1287/1999 and modifies the regulation on common telecommunications infrastructures (Real Decreto 346/2011) to incorporate COFDM-DAB/DAB+ signals in building installations. The impact is twofold: for broadcasters, it provides a stable technical framework and expanded capacity, and for listeners, better-identified receivers, more channels per network, and emergency alerts integrated into the radio.

Source: Boletín Oficial del Estado, no. 276, of November 5, 2026, Sec. I. General Provisions, pp. 148286-148296 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-23177).