By: James Kamara-Manneh
The Director of Cooperation Affairs at the National Telecommunication Commission (NATCOM), Abdul Ben Foday has responded to the suspension notice issued on the 19th August, 2022 against the operations of Star TV/ Radio under the media one conglomerate.
Mr. Foday said NATCOM is charged with the mandate to give frequencies to both radio and television in return for quality service to broadcast. He stated that Star/ Radio have breached the License conditions pursuant to sections 30 and 65 of the NATCOM ACT 2006 (Amended).
The director said they failed to migrate to the frequency issues by the commission; was using an illegal channel to broadcast and owes the commission to a total tune of 285 million Leones since 2017. He said they have had several dialogues with the authorities of the said company. He added that with all efforts made for a peaceful dialogue the commission is left with no other option than to suspend the License.
He was clear that the suspension has nothing to do with the content of the TV and radio stations; rather the Independent Media Commission (IMC) is the institution has the mandate to suspend the licenses of media broadcast media houses. He cautioned that they have to follow the rules of engagement that should not be breached. While all other radio stations comply with NATCOM instruction; Star radio refused to use 103.3 as required rather they used 103.5 thereby willfully violating the regulations of the commission.
He said the commission is open to resolving issues with any media outlet in fulfilling the requirements and procedures of NATCOM-the regulator.
