Communicorp will be launching four stations (98fm, East Coast Radio, and two new services) on digital television, while RT�? will be launching six new stations on digital radio only. They hope that these stations will be provided on digital television at a later date. Digital Audio Productions will be launching two new radio stations on both digital radio and digital television.

Former RT�? disc jockey Dusty Rhodes, who now heads Digital Audio Productions, told the Sunday Tribune that these digital services were the future of Irish radio."It's incredibly exciting, " he said. "It will absolutely, without a shadow of doubt, change the face of radio in Ireland and Europe? it's the future."

Four RT�? radio channels - Radio 1, Radio na Gaeltachta, 2FM and Lyric FM - are already available on digital television. The addition of six new radio services will give the national station a strong foothold in the digital market here.

RT�? completed a three month trial of their initial digital radio service in March 2006.

Digital radios are not currently for sale in Irish shops, although they will begin to come on the market as the new radio stations are rolled out. Alternatively, they are available to buy online. Three-and-a-half million digital radios have been bought in the UK, where both the BBC and commercial stations have launched a wide array of very popuar digital stations.

Digital radio will eventually replace current wavelengths. There is no definite timeline set for the end of the traditional television signal, but it can be expected that our analogue signal will be switched off around the same time as the UK, which has already begun dismantling the service and have set the deadline of 2012 for the complete transition to digital.