Advertisement of a national radio Additional Services licence

Additional Services are services which use the ‘spare’ capacity within the signals carrying sound broadcasting services on relevant frequencies, for example to transmit data.

Ofcom is required to do all it can to secure that all the spare capacity on relevant frequencies which is available for Additional Services is used for their provision under Additional Services licences.

There is currently one Additional Service licence. It is held by INRIX UK Ltd and is used to transmit traffic and road travel information to in-car navigation devices, using spare capacity on the national FM frequencies used to broadcast Classic FM. INRIX’s licence is due to expire on 28 February 2018.

In December 2016 Ofcom launched a consultation on matters relating to the advertisement of a new Additional Services licence. This statement document explains our decisions on the matters we consulted on. We have published separately at this time, a licence advertisement in the form of a Notice setting out Ofcom’s proposal to grant a new Additional Services licence.