The decision by the National Communications Authority (NCA) to reclassify frequency modulation (FM) radio stations in the country has generated tension between the authority and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA).
The new policy is aimed at reducing the present maximum coverage area of FM radio stations operating in the country from 100 kilometres radius to 45 kilometres.
However, GIBA members say the reclassification will cripple their businesses, as it will reduce their coverage and audience.
The NCA’s position is that the re-classification of the frequencies will allow each station to operate within specified limits to avoid the disruption of transmissions and also enable the authority to give new frequencies to new areas that need them.
By estimation, this means a radio station operating in Accra can only broadcast up to areas such as Afienya in the Greater Accra Region, Teacher Mante in the Eastern Region and a few kilometres after the Budumburam camp in the Central Region.
Distance starts from location of transmitters The NCA’s Principal Manager in charge of Engineering, Mr Edmund Fianko, told the Daily Graphic that the authority was not operating with strict road distance measurement, adding that the distance used by the authority did not start from the stations but rather where their transmitters were located.
“Most of the stations in Accra, for instance, have their transmitters at Ahwerease, Brekuso and Kitase in the Eastern Region and their 45 kilometres will cover a significant part of the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta regions.
“We are not saying they cannot be heard beyond 45 kilometres. The directive is that the strength of the signal should be less than a certain threshold after 45 kilometres,” he added.
According to the NCA, its decision was in conformity with Section 5 (f) of the NCA Act, 2008 (Act 769), which enjoins the NCA, in the performance of its functions, to give regard to the various demands, interests and uses of the electromagnetic spectrum.
“To meet the growing demand in several towns which do not have stations, it is necessary to reduce the maximum coverage radius for FM stations from 100km to 45km. In all cases, their primary markets are within this maximum coverage area,” the NCA said in a statement.
Mr Fianko said the review of the coverage areas was also to empower local businesses and FM stations by taking into account the level of economic activities and development, as those stations depended mainly on advertising for their revenue.
That, he said, would enhance the viability of stations outside the major cities.
He accused GIBA of merely speculating on how the policy would affect members’ businesses, when it had not submitted any document on the matter ever since the NCA announced the process in 2012.
GIBA responds But speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Vice-President of GIBA, Mr Samuel Atta-Mensah, said the new policy was anti-business.
“The coverage area is what gives you your audience. If in the middle of your business you are told that the NCA wants frequencies to be freed so that it can give them to other people, what it means is that technically it has reduced your area of operation, audience and ultimately your revenue,” he said.
He said the directive could affect the number of people commercial radio stations could employ.
Citing Atlantis Radio as an example, he said the station had been operating within 40 kilometres for some years and employed not more than 10 people.
“What they are saying is that stations such as Peace FM, Joy FM and everybody else should come down and employ 10 people as Atlantis is doing.
“If you give the station 100 kilometres from the beginning, that is the arrangement you have with that station. Some stations were given 45 kilometres from the beginning, others 60 kilometres. Those stations don’t have a problem because they built their stations around that distance,” he said.
Too many stations in one area Mr Atta-Mensah said it was unnecessary for the NCA to try and squeeze so many stations into one geographical area.
“In West Africa, Ghana has the highest density of radio stations per square metre. In Lagos, there are between 19 and 21 radio stations and the population is about 16 million. Accra alone has 47 radio stations and the NCA is trying to free more frequencies so that it can give more out.
“Technically, it is possible, but in terms of running a business, it is not feasible. Unless the NCA is not aware that we are using the frequencies to run businesses,” he said.
He said GIBA and the technical team from the NCA had been to all the regions, except the Volta and the Eastern regions, and met at least 30 operators in each region.
He said in all the meetings there had been resistance to the NCA move, adding that the association would use every available means to resist the reclassification exercise.
Meanwhile, the NCA says the implementation of the new policy since July 2013 applied to incumbent stations only after their authorisations expired and were being renewed in accordance with Section 16 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, Act 775, and Regulation 56 of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011.
Mr Atta-Mensah said some GIBA members whose licences had expired had already received notification from the NCA to renew their licences but the policy had become the bone of contention.
The NCA, however, insists, in its statement, that “stakeholders should also be aware that the issue of reclassification goes beyond the coverage of the FM stations and includes the purpose and the location of the radio station”.
<<Print>>