After TV switchover, radio set to join the digital age by 2015

All mainstream radio stations should be transferred to digital, an industry body has recommended.

It wants all national, regional and big local radio stations to start moving to digital in 2015.

Millions of people have been entranced by listening to radio on their analogue radio sets but they could soon be a thing of the past

FM would continue, but only used by small local and community radio stations.

But this means if old and vulnerable people did not buy new sets, they would lose stations such as BBC Radio 4 and Radio 2 and be left with niche channels.

Digital radio offers more choice of stations and is claimed to have a better sound quality than current analogue sets.

It is also claimed that the signal is more resilient to interference. The move comes despite widespread concerns from commercial radio about the financial viability of digital radio.

Some companies have pulled out of being on DAB as it is known, because of the amount of money it costs to run the stations, which often get tiny audiences.

The Digital Radio Working Group, backed by the Government and industry watchdog Ofcom, said that before a mass change the strength of digital radio signals must be increased and a strategy for fitting digital radios into cars needs to be worked out with manufacturers.

There are suggestions that, similar to the digital switchover of TV, the poorest members of society may be compensated for buying new sets.