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The commercial radio industry is amping up pressure on the government to extend digital radio licenses to regional areas.
The recently launched We Want Digital Radio information campaign urges listeners to support the expansion of digital radio into areas beyond the current rollout, which covers only Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
CEO of Commercial Radio Australia Joan Warner said digital radio offered a better quality sound, greater interactivity and greater choice.
"In those five state capitals and two regional trials [in Canberra and Darwin] there are 37 new digital radio stations," she said.
"Analogue broadcasts are increasingly compromised by multipath interference and man-made noise.
"Analogue restricts the ability of radio to multichannel and offer more diversity and new features, which will allow radio to maintain its relevance in a digital world."
Josh Reid, manager of Illawarra Christian station Pulse 94.1FM, believes the greatest benefit of digital radio will be increased variety.
He expects a variety of new stations to spring up in the Illawarra in the same way the introduction of digital TV gave rise to new channels linked to the existing players.
Pulse has already launched a secondary radio station called Inspire, which - unlike Pulse, which plays secular music - broadcasts entirely Christian content including music and 20-30 minute blocks of preaching.
Without a digital broadcast option, Inspire is streamed online for now.
"You will be able to cater for a much wider range of tastes, demographics and age groups."
Commercial Radio Australia has submitted a Regional Rollout and Funding proposal to the government and is awaiting a policy framework announcement.
CRA last week released the 2013 Digital Radio Industry Report, showing 1.5 million people are listening to digital radio weekly.
