The partnership would make DRM a technical resource for the ITU in developing the specifications for the system. The single world-wide standard is considered necessary to keep costs down and reach a mass market required to encourage broadcasters to move away from analogue systems currently used. The ITU has already approved two basic recommendations that define the overall system requirements needed to carry out future evaluation of proposed new systems on a common basis and has established a lead group to deal with the rapid development of a single world-wide standard. This action has been taken in response to the 1997 World Radiocommunication Conference which decided to give a green light to the adoption of spectrum-efficient techniques such as digital modulation techniques. WRC-97 took this decision given the imperative need to make room in the highly congested HF bands.
Broadcasters have a vital interest in adopting digital techniques.
The introduction of digital techniques for broadcasting in these frequency bands could revitalize the service and the networks could continue to be usefully exploited. Implementation of digital radio for broadcasting is expected to allow operators to provide services which could compete successfully with current and future high-quality audio services. The system would also have to be compatible with any digital and conventional analogue system either through dual-system receivers or a simulcast approach that would enable a smooth transition from analogue to digital. It would also have to take account of the different planning environment where the channel spacing differs among regions and frequency bands.