Elecom Develops Emergency Public Radio Receiver

OSAKA (Nikkei)--Elecom Co. (6750) has developed a radio with an analog tuner that automatically picks up emergency public radio broadcasts from local municipalities, as well as earthquake alerts and other emergency warnings.

Even if the radio is off, it will turn on automatically when any of these messages are transmitted. This is said to be the first radio that can do this for all three kinds of emergency information.

Elecom expects the radios to be purchased by local municipalities for placement in schools and government buildings and distribution to local citizens.

The radio is basically a modified version of a regular radio sold by an Elecom subsidiary, but with a special analog tuner for emergency public radio broadcasts.

Since each municipality uses a different frequency band for their emergency broadcasts, Elecom will adjust the tuners at the time of shipment.

The company plans to begin shipments in the spring, pricing the radio at around 10,000 yen and accepting orders in lots of around 100.

Due to budgetary constraints, many municipalities have not yet shifted from analog to digital for their emergency radio transmissions.

This Elecom radio is a relative bargain compared with the 30,000 yen to 50,000 yen price for dedicated home receivers to pick up digital emergency broadcasts.

(The Nikkei Business Daily, March 14 edition)

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