JEDDAH, 25 June 2003 — The BBC World Service has begun transmitting on FM in Abu Dhabi and plans to launch a second FM frequency in Dubai this summer, a statement said.
The new 24-hour FM frequency in Abu Dhabi on 90.3 MHz is the fifth new FM frequency to be launched by the BBC World Service in the Middle East since March. Last month it announced it had begun FM broadcasts in Arabic and English in the Iraqi cities of Baghdad, Basra and Al-Amarah.
Jerry Timmins, head of Middle East and Africa region at BBC World Service, said, “BBC Arabic is pleased to add Abu Dhabi to its growing number of FM frequencies across the Middle East. Abu Dhabi and Dubai, where we plan to launch another FM frequency later this summer — are both important commercial centers.”
The World Service now has FM facilities in all Gulf Cooperation Council states with the exception of Saudi Arabia. BBC Arabic is also available on FM in Amman reaching Jerusalem and other West Bank centers, in Ajloun (Jordan) for Damascus, northern Jordan, southern Lebanon, and northern Israel, as well as in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and in Khartoum and Wad Madani in Sudan.
The World Service is present on FM in 140 capital cities around the world. BBC Arabic is the oldest of the BBC World Service’s 42 language services and also broadcasts throughout the Arab world on short wave frequencies.
