Is this here to stay or is it likely to be overtaken by other technologies?
There are two D-Star repeaters here in Yorkshire - GB3YD and shortly to be GB3YC. Although I know of one ham who has a D-star radio (well, the box is gathering dust) I've yet to hear of much activity.
There does seem to be a bit of activity on GB3YC, but not as much as there was when it was just FM. IT's just that I have needed to drop it out of the scan settings of various radios I have here that can receive it. Reports that it needs at higher signal level to be usuable have been discussed on such as GB3HG, drop below about S5 and the signal drops out. Even our avid D-start enthusiast in the club hasn't managed a single QSO on it as yet.
I suspect that it may be here to stay, at least for a while. It does offer some features, and of course there are some drawbacks. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-STAR for an overview.
