Local DAB radio will be coming to Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the new year, thanks to a new strategy by DAB multiplex operator MuxCo.

The company is proposing to carry identical services on the two DAB carriers - one reserved for Herefordshire & Worcestershire and the other for Gloucestershire - for the time being. If more local stations in the area want to broadcast on DAB than there is room for, it's likely there'll be different stations on each carrier in the future.

The company has been waiting for the Digital Economy Act to become law, giving powers for them to merge the transmission areas of their local multiplexes in the drive to digital.

MuxCo Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire

• BBC Hereford and Worcester : news, information and music

• BBC Radio Gloucestershire : news, information and music

• Wyvern FM : pop and contemporary music

• Sunshine Radio : classic and contemporary hits

• Shuffle : chart, dance and rock tracks with listener-generated content

• Nation Radio : new rock and alternative music, currently broadcasting to South Wales

Other services are due to be announced nearer launch.

MuxCo are proposing a revised launch of "early 2011" for its DAB services, with transmitters at Ridge Hill, Malvern and Churchdown Hill. Blunsdon, Bromsgrove, Icomb Hill and Stroud are due to follow at a later date.

MuxCo won the licence to run the multiplex for Herefordshire and Worcestershire in September 2007 and Gloucestershire in January 2008. Ofcom was recently granted powers to allow multiplex operators to combine their transmission areas in order to facilitate the switch to digital radio.