Radio Stations Boycott LTA’s Penalty Forum Several Liberian electronic media outlets boycotted the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) consultative forum on the draft regulations on penalties to govern GSM companies and other telecommunication providers. The gathering was held at LTA’s technical office in Congo Town adjacent Lonestar Cell -MTN headquarters. Several GSM operators including Cellcom, Lonestar-MTN, Comium attended the forum on Wednesday, July 24, 2013. The radio stations that attended the forum were Super FM 95.5 and Liberty Radio 88.5 FM while other popular media outlets reportedly failed to participate in the ongoing draft regulation on penalties for telecommunication providers. Speaking to this paper after the forum, LTA Commissioner, Abdullah Kamara hailed the telecommunication providers that attended the forum, but expressed disappointment in radio stations for not attending the forum. According to him, ELBC/TV, Power FM/TV, Truth FM/TV, King FM/ TV, Sky FM/ TV, Hot FM, Magic FM, Radio Bushrod, Worship FM, Fabric Radio, Radio Advert, among others views are needed to finalize the draft regulations on penalties. He stated that the forum and draft regulation policy came as a result of continuous violation of Telecommunications proceedings in Liberia. The Liberia Telecommunication Authority (LTA) said electronic media outlets are putting out more broadcast wave, thus causing interference without the knowledge of LTA. He stated that continuous wave of interference during normal broadcast hours are caused due to radio stations managers’ refusal to adhere to the instruction of LTA upon receiving broadcast license. Commissioner Kamara mentioned that all radio stations have been mandated to broadcast on a specific watt and not to increase frequency. He said the LTA has different authorization license frequency for commercial and community radio stations. The LTA Technical head said commercial radio stations frequencies are powerful than community radio stations. He claimed that some community radios are broadcasting beyond their assigned frequencies, thus causing interference. Commissioner Kamara alleged that some radio stations have reportedly refused to pay authorization fees for their broadcast licenses, thus defrauding government of needed revenues. He said the new draft regulations on penalties are aimed at adequately regulating Liberia’s Telecommunications sector to international best practices. The LTA senior staff revealed that the draft policy when finalized in its entirety will reduce fraudulent practices in the telecommunications sector. He said another consultative forum is expected to take place shortly. Speaking further, he said the new regulations on penalties seek to address the increasing wave of telecommunications towers in all localities, interconnection among GSM providers, contradiction of license obligation, communication equipment & system, communication & radio interference, inspection, misrepresentation/omission, computer violation, transfer of license, frequency or station, unauthorized operations, radio frequencies, among others.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 20:17:29 +0000
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