The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s largest radio network, Radio One, has announced the launch of a broadcasting service in the United States via mobile

CBC Radio has partnered with a technology company, AudioNow, to allow audiences across the border to access live and recorded daily programmes from Radio One, its premier English-language information service, on any mobile device. The service does not require a smartphone or apps, and uses voice minutes rather than data plans. Users call a phone number to access the station.

Local broadcasts from Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Ottawa are available, as well as recordings of key programmes, such as the long-running interview programme ‘As It Happens’, science show ‘Quirks and Quarks’, and the station’s highest-rating programme, ‘The Current’.

Broadcasting since 1936, CBC Radio One is the oldest branch of the corporation, and has a sizeable audience in the US, particularly along the North American border.

“We’re excited about this partnership to deliver our award-winning service to listeners in the US,” said Bob Kerr, Senior Director of CBC Radio-Canada’s distribution division. “This partnership with AudioNow helps us to extend the reach of CBC Radio One and make our content available to Canadians wherever they want to experience it.”

Washington DC-based AudioNow has developed voice design and compression technology to enable listeners to connect to radio stations through a telephone call. The company has teamed up with many small broadcasters as well as large global networks including the British Broadcasting Corporation, Radio France Internationale, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America. The company said that in 2014, their platform amassed more than 100 million unique sessions and delivered an incremental 2.5 billion listening minutes to broadcasters.