East London and Essex Digital is a collaboration from Phoenix FM and Gateway 97.8, two award-winning community radio stations with 30 years experience of broadcasting on FM between them.

The application is unique in its area as it will be the only one to have the backing of every Ofcom-licenced community radio station within the target area.

Paul Golder explained: “This is a community-led application aiming to give a louder voice to small community radio stations throughout our area.

“Very few community radio stations are currently able to broadcast on DAB due to the high cost of carriage from existing operators.

“ELED will offer considerably lower carriage rates, with further discounts for not-for-profit stations.

“At least 7 community radio stations will be carried on the new service, each reaching over a million new listeners.

“We’re delighted that Phoenix FM has teamed up with Danny Lawrence and the team at Gateway 97.8 to provide a strong foundation for our community plans.”

East London and Essex Digital has confirmed support from 14 local community and commercial radio stations.  The consortium is also backed by Viamux, who has a successful track record in supplying and maintaining DAB services for small-scale operators.

It is expected that Ofcom will make a decision in early 2024.

For more information visit https://eled.uk