The Student Radio Association has joined the debate on those previously reported proposals to start switching off a bulk of the AM and FM radio network in 2015, forcing everyone to start tuning into the digital audio broadcasting network.

While a 2015 switchover is supported by government, the BBC and the big commercial radio firms, smaller players argue radio listeners won't be ready for the switch in five years time, that the DAB network won't be extensive enough to ensure no one loses out, and digital radio - because DAB networks are managed by private owners - gives bigger radio companies an unfair advantage.

There is also some confusion as to what will happen to the FM network after 2015. It seems some smaller stations will be left on the analogue network because of the capacity and geographical limitations of DAB. Some see that as a bad thing, because it will put smaller commercial players left on FM at a disadvantage, though others see FM outliving the digital switchover as an opportunity, because it would free up the FM network for use by student and community radio stations.

Either way, both those groups of people don't support those other previously reported proposals, that consumers be offered a discount on DAB radio sets if they hand over old analogue radios, a move to take good old fashioned AM/FM radios out of circulation.

The Student Radio Association see the big stations going digital-only as an opportunity for an expansion of student radio, but they fear talk of encouraging consumers to trash FM radio sets will hinder those ambitions. They also criticise the ministers who have drafted the radio section of the Digital Economy Bill for failing to speak to the student radio sector about their plans, and where student-based radio services might fit in.

SRA chair Tim Dye told Radio Today: "Student radio is a unique feature of the UK radio landscape - it is almost entirely free of rigid formats and commercial pressures. As a result, student radio has become a hugely respected platform, from which world-renowned bands, DJs, radio presenters and other media professionals have launched their careers. The ramifications of an analogue 'switch-off' are huge [for us], and as yet we've been offered no viable alternative".

SRA secretary Sarah Ghost added: "DAB isn't a 'one size fits all' solution. Smaller broadcasters, like our members, feel that they're being railroaded towards a digital future where they currently have no place. DAB simply isn't right for many of these stations financially".

Of course media regulator OfCom, and all its predecessors in radio regulation, not to mention successive governments, have continually pissed on student radio in this country, despite frequently standing up at conferences and giving hollow support to the educational and creative potential of the medium. The only reason there isn't an FM-based student radio station in every UK city - which there could and should be - is because generations of OfCom officials haven't wanted it to be so. That they and relevant ministers are ignoring student radio while considering the digital switchover, therefore, comes as no surprise.

The music industry used to piss on student radio too, by charging royalty fees so high many college radio groups couldn't afford to go on air. But credit where it's due, both PRS and PPL sorted that out a few years ago now, providing support and affordable licensing for both those student stations on FM or AM, and the growing number of student stations who have leapfrogged the lip-service brigade at OfCom and opted to broadcast in the unregulated internet radio domain.