Our national and international experience
Our monitoring network is composed of 50 sites distributed across the entire length and breadth of the country. The network is planned, developed, and managed exclusively by Rai Way’s technicians, and aims to provide detailed information on the reception conditions of radio and television signals present in the airwaves, monitoring the correct reception on behalf of users.
The network’s primary function is to highlight any events related to the services carried out by broadcasting systems within coverage areas. The control is carried out in a number of ways: continuously, using random sampling, and at predetermined intervals.
Thanks to various observation parameters, specific to each modulation, anomaly situations can also be identified, depending on the surrounding conditions.
This monitoring system, established in the early nineties to carry out simple controls and considered a Light Network, is now an integral and transverse part of various activities at Rai Way. In synergy with the data from other corporate systems, it enables us to:
As well as routing measuring activities, the network also works to carry out experimental analyses and specific studies, and supports system surveillance.
As well as being amply used within Rai Way, our quality monitoring system is also available to clients, to fulfil their specific requests and provide a comprehensive service which:
We constantly check the quality and extension of our coverage of our terrestrial broadcasting networks. Our technical experts are dispersed throughout our regional offices, and carry out specific control measures.
Our regional technicians, who use mobile control laboratories and professional measuring tools, visit around 27,000 control points efficiently distributed across the country, on a rotational basis.
In this way, we minimise the number of controls necessary to obtain an accurate coverage check. Each year, through our DVBT, MF, and DAB services, we take a total of around 14,000 measurements.
Rai Way’s technicians periodically control the state of mobile reception and of MF, Isoradio, and DAB radio services. These quality controls are carried out with our automated measuring systems. On average, around 10,000km of motorways, ring roads, and high-speed inner-city roads are checked each year.
Any checks of interference systems which may concern the reception of signals broadcast by Rai Way are carried out by technicians from regional units. These technicians:
A unique broadcasting and quality service culture form the foundations of our work: to enable the diffusion of culture and knowledge throughout Italy.
The electromagnetic fields generated by radio and television systems contribute to non-ionizing radiation (NIR [link to Sustainability]) in that they do not produce sufficient energy to ionize matter.
Over the past few decades, public opinion and focus on the effects of electromagnetic radiation on human health has increased significantly. This has instigated a need to define, at a legislative level, the limits in which the population, and our workers, can be exposed to said radiation.
We have taken on a central role in this regulatory process, actively contributing both to the development of tools for the testing and broadcasting phases and to the definition of working conditions and control methods. The latter was achieved through the implementation of studies, experiments, and the participation of work groups to define national and international standards (CEI, Cenelec).
When it comes to the management of issues related to electromagnetic impact on human health, our abilities are recognised at a national level. Our technicians have acquired top-quality knowledge on measuring techniques for the level of electromagnetic impact, which is exclusively referenced in the Italian law for the population (referring to electric fields, magnetic fields, and output density).
We observe, using extremely rigorous methods, the limits imposed by regulations for the protection of the population and for workers, in terms of electromagnetic radiation. In order to correctly and systematically survey the impact produced by our systems, we oversee the issue at various levels, including:
These activities are regulated by a number of procedures, within the fields of Environmental Management Systems (ISO certification 14001:2015) and Occupational Safety Management Worker Safety Management Systems (ISO certification 45001)
The health of the population and workplace safety are both core values at Rai Way.
Rai Way’s Collaboration with Regulatory Bodies and Associations in the Field
We regularly participate in the activities of national and international regulatory boards, as well as the Association of European Radios, positioning ourselves as an active member, reliable partner, and point of reference for European broadcasting representation.
We contribute to the development of experiences and the implementation of experiments, receiving, at the same time, updates on market predictions and of study and development initiatives within the sector’s international community.
We participate in the definition process for international regulations within the radio communication sector, applying these standards then to relevant procedures carried out within the company.
We actively collaborate with the groups listed below, coordinating also the activities of a number of sub-groups.
In October 2019, Rai Way member Lucia Luisa La Franceschina was nominated as Vice President of the Radiocommunication Advisory Group (RAG): an entity which revises priorities and strategies adopted by the Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). The RAG also directs the work carried out by the study groups, and guarantees the cooperation of these groups in studies with all other ITU entities. The role lasts for a four-year term, and is appointed by the Ministry of Economic Development – Communications.
We collaborate with the Project Group on Sharing and Planning of Terrestrial Services, which manages the evolution of digital radio broadcasting systems. The group studies the possible implementation of new technology from a technical standpoint, evaluating its potential benefits and possible coexistence with services currently in use. It also ensures a sufficient and widespread diffusion of information to broadcasters.
We are part of the Technical Committee 106X “Electromagnetic fields in the human environment”, in which the relevant regulations are defined for the Directives of the European Commission, relating to the exposure to electromagnetic fields for workers and for the population.
We are part of Technical Committee 106 “Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields”, the operating Italian committee within IEC/Cenelec.
Experience recognised internationally: Rai Way, an authoritative voice.
