Panic gripped the broadcasting sector on Wednesday when it emerged
that the industry regulator, the Communication Commission of Kenya, had
cancelled idle radio and television frequencies, writes Jevans Nyabiage in the Daily Nation.
Mr Charles Njoroge, CCK director-general, confirmed that the actual
cancellation started on Tuesday and a full list of those affected will
be released this week.
"Radio is the most affected as the demand for the frequencies is
very high. We have a long list of investors in radio but there are no
more frequencies to award," Mr Njoroge said on Wednesday.
Last year alone a total of 268 radio frequencies had been licensed, but only about a-third are in use.
Over the past few years since the liberalisation of the telecoms
industry, there has been a dramatic growth in FM stations in Kenya, but
the director-general, says most of the licences are idle and will be
cancelled and given to genuine investors.
Industry sources say that most of the affected frequencies are for the upcountry, which are bought for speculative purposes.
Last year alone, according to the Economic Survey 2009, the broadcasting sector experienced increased demand for frequencies.
CCK assigned a total of new 30 FM frequencies out of 295 applications for FM broadcasting.
The number of applicants awaiting allocation for TV frequencies increased from 143 in 2007 to 192 in 2008.
Click here to read the full story, published on The Nation's website.
