DAB, Digital Audio broadcasting, arrived in Finland in 1997 as an energy-efficient means of radio transmission. Many channels can be broadcast within a single matrix and received by a suitable radio.

Although enthusiasm has been great in some European countries, for example, the United Kingdom, manufacturers have been reluctant to bring cheap mass-produced sets on the market in other countries.

Commercial broadcasters in Finland have shied away from DAB due to the prohibitive costs of setting up a new radio distribution network.

The Finnish Broadcasting Company- YLE has offered listeners all its available channels via DAB in the south of the country in addition to a few separate outlets including an all-day spoken word service, a classical music channel and two foreign language services YLE World and YLE Mondo.

YLE will continue digital radio broadcasts via digi-TV and some broadcasts will be made available via the internet. The company will monitor technological developments to determine what appropriate multimedia distribution technology could compensate for the demise of DAB.

If international developments, however, lead to the adoption of DAB as a pan-European distribution standard, YLE will retain the means to resume DAB services.