London - Oct 18, 2011 - The BBC will pay for the rollout of DAB for more than 97 percent of the nation, and every town with a population greater than 5,000 in the UK will have DAB coverage indoors. This is according to the Guardian UK.

BBC Director of Audio and Music Tim Davie said that the funding would occur even in the current tough financial environment. According to Davie, however, the priority was "solid coverage" in the UK's top 25 cities, with improvements to the signal in areas including London, Leicester, Glasgow, Coventry and Swansea.

Ed Vaizey, the Minister of Culture in the UK, was quoted as saying some very interesting things about DAB there. For example, he said the UK "leads the world" in digital radio with more than 14 million sets sold, and the medium accounts for more than a quarter of all radio listening. He also said nearly one in five new cars sold now came with DAB fitted as standard, with the industry on course to hits its 50 percent listening target by the end of 2013.

He added: "There is undoubtedly a huge amount of work to be done between now and mid-2013, with even more to follow if the switchover (from FM to DAB) is to become a reality, but right now the only future I envisage for radio is digital.

"No one could predict 10 years ago the success of Apple, the domination of Google, profitability in social networking ... In all these instances success and positive change were not achieved by standing still, but by grasping the opportunities in front of them."