Information reaching Airnewsonline.com has it that two NDC-affiliate radio stations, Radio XYZ and Radio Gold have been shut down by officials of the National Communications Authority (NCA).
The stations are currently off air, bringing a halt to programming.
Checks conducted revealed that the NCA in the company of some national security and BNI officials stormed the premises of the two stations to close them because they have not renewed their licenses.
Further checks with the radio stations in question have revealed that the NCA was unfair in the closure.
“There are outstanding matters, yes. We are in court. We wrote several letters to NCA, they have not responded,” one senior staff of Radio Gold said.
Radio XYZ was at the centre of storm recently when Radio Host Mugabe made some scandalous allegations. Revered Owusu Bempah also stormed the radio station looking for the host in order to deal with him.
Radio Gold also has some outstanding issues with the NCA including renewal of license fees. It is however believed the two radio stations will be a source of worry to the governing NPP as the political temperature heats up ahead of election 2020.
A statement issued the NCA said the Authority is shutting down radio stations operating without valid authorisations.
Below is the NCA statement:
NCA IS SHUTTING DOWN UNAUTHORISED RADIO STATIONS IN COMPLIANCE WITH RULING OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS TRIBUNAL
Radio stations operating without valid authorisations as determined by the 2017 FM Broadcasting Audit are being shut down with immediate effect as an enforcement action in view of the decision of the Electronic Communications Tribunal.
Following the FM Spectrum Audit in 2017, some stations were found to be in default and were fined by the Authority. However, some of the stations in default were not satisfied and proceeded to the various courts; Electronic Communications Tribunal (ECT) and the High Court to appeal against the NCA’s decision.
This resulted in a decision by the ECT in 2018 which reviewed the status of expired FM Radio Broadcasting Authorisations and which ruled among others that Companies whose authorisations had expired reverted to the same position as a fresh applicant. While some stations shut down following this decision, others did not.
To this end, and in line with Regulations 65 (1) of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011, L. I. 1991, which states that “A person shall not use a radio frequency without authorisation from the Authority” the National Communications Authority (NCA) is enforcing the shutdown of FM radio stations who are operating without authorisation.
It should be noted that, as ruled by the ECT, submission of renewal application after the expiry of authorisation is not a valid application and therefore shall not be considered by the Authority.
While companies affected by this shut down may submit fresh applications to the Authority if they so wish, these applications shall go through the required procedure for new FM Broadcasting Authorisation and the outcome will be communicated to the applicants.
The general public is also informed that entities are only authorised to use frequencies for a specific duration or period. Frequencies are national assets and not the properties of users as they are not assigned to users in perpetuity.
The Authority takes this opportunity to encourage all licence and authorisation holders to ensure compliance with the various terms of their licenses and authorisations, and as well as the relevant regulations.
