Medium wave transmissions return to Chania

Quoting “circumstances of urgent national need”, the management board of national broadcaster ERT has decided to reactivate its Medium Wave radio service both in Chania and throughout Greece. According to an announcement on the government website Diavgeia.gov.gr, the ERT management board has established a “strategic national plan for radio coverage in the Medium Wave band (AM), for use in cases of national emergency”, and approved a “Map of National Radio Coverage” which includes the transmitters at Chania (Souda), Rhodes, Megara (Attica), Malgara (Thessaloniki), Zakynthos, Bogiati/Agios Stefanos (Attica), Corfu, Tripoli and Komotini.

Map of AM transmitting stations in Greece.
Map published by ERT of the areas covered by the nine AM transmitters which it is proposing to upgrade throughout the country.

The announcement has caused some discomfiture with regard to the site occupied by the medium-wave aerial at Souda, which the local community had been hoping to claim for their own use, and which had been the subject of recent discussions in the Chania Municipal Council. The transmitter had been out of use for a number of years, and there were fears that lack of maintenance was causing it to become a hazard to the local community, while the existence of an otherwise unoccupied site of 56 stremmata in a populated area on the edge of Chania had caused them to push for its redevelopment. With the latest announcement from ERT, its seems that this opportunity is now lost.

The Municipal Council
At a Council meeting held on 28th May a fair amount of recrimination was aimed at the Municipal Council for delays in pursuing the declassification of the 56 stremmata site, which could have resulted in its being handed over to the Municipality. Apart from the site covered by the aerial, its presence has resulted in a number of planning restrictions which have generally hampered development in the area. However, ERT has made clear its intention of upgrading the infrastructure at Souda and at the eight other transmitting stations around the country. A possible solution, as suggested by Haniotika Nea’s Giannis Liviakis in an article posted on 2nd June, would be to find an alternative site in a less populated area close to Chania, though it is hard to see this being implemented in the short term.

The value of medium wave transmissions
It should be noted that many countries have maintained AM radio services because in the case of a breakdown of the internet in emergencies, through natural disasters or war, the broadcasting of information over long distances via Medium or Short wave transmission remains the only viable alternative.

According to ERT’s announcement: “this upgrading is part of the strategic plan for the modernisation of ERT’s radio installations, with the aim of upgrading transmission quality and improving coverage of the radio signal throughout the nation. The Broadcasting Centre at Souda in Chania broadcasts in the Medium Wave band (AM) at a frequency of 1512 kHz and covers the wider area of Crete and the islands of the Cyclades, strengthening radio access in areas with restricted FM coverage.”
(Haniotika Nea, ERT News)