The South Hams is set to get more radio choice as the regulator Ofcom will be advertising a Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) multiplex for the area probably later this year.

A DAB multiplex, also known as an ensemble, is a collection of radio services bundled together and broadcast using a single frequency. 

This allows broadcasters to efficiently transmit multiple stations using less spectrum, providing listeners with a wider variety of radio options on their DAB digital radios. 

To listen to the new services you will need a DAB + radio.

Exeter based-RadioEXE run several small-scale multiplexes already in collaboration with various partners in and around Plymouth (PlymDAB), Exeter (ExeDAB) and Torbay (TorDAB).

Under the ExeDAB branding they have also applied for the East Devon licence.

Whether there are any applicants for the South Hams will probably depend how much interest there is in providing local and community radio stations on the multiplex as it would have to be financially viable for the operator.

There is technical capacity for five community stations and up to 20 others but Torbay currently carries six, Plymouth seven and Exeter 10.

Another factor is that, given the hilly landscape of the district, several transmission sites would have to be used making it far more expensive to set up than say Torbay where there is only one site.

RadioEXE Managing Director Paul Nero says: "Our policy is to work with community stations, so we’re more likely to help any community group with an application, should one wish to go for it. 

It’s likely to be a long time before anything happens though.

"Even after an advertisement, there’s a three-month deadline, then Ofcom take up to a year to announce a winner, and then there’s an 18-month period for the network to go live."

Going by this the new service could go live in 2028.