Canberra - Sep 23, 2011 - On Oct. 5, 2011, ABC Radio National, ABC Jazz, triple j Unearthed and ABC Grandstand will join 666 ABC Canberra in the DAB+ digital radio broadcasting trial currently underway in Canberra. 666 ABC Canberra will also continue broadcasting on the AM band. Limited bandwidth availability for the testing prevents all the ABC stations from being available on the DAB+ system. The trial period will last until at least July 2012.

"Digital radio reception tends to be interference free and also much better quality sound," said Tony Walker, ABC's digital radio manager. He added, "As there are with all transmission or broadcast systems there can be black holes where the line of sight signals can be affected and that's certainly something we're experiencing as we roll digital radio out around the country in the various state capital cities. But those thing will be address as the platform of digital radio develops over time. We're in the very, very early stages of digital radio development in Australia."