NCA denies NET2 allegations

The National Communications Authority (NCA) on Wednesday denied allegations that it is interfering with the radio signals of NET2 TV, describing them as unfounded and unfortunate.

An official statement issued in Accra by NCA said to interfere with radio signals would require the use of a transmitter.

“The NCA does not have a transmitter and therefore cannot cause interference to any radio signal,” it said.

The statement said what the NCA had was a spectrum monitoring equipment comprising receivers and analyzers whose functionality include receiving signals from the radio waves; scanning the frequency band to check whether frequency authorization holders are operating within their authorized spectrum bands; checking to identify illegal transmissions in the frequency band in order to take appropriate action and analyzing the transmission parameters received (i.e., the bandwidth, signal strength, etc.

It said from its records, the NCA received a complaint from NET2 TV on Monday November 26, 2012 about interference to their transmission in Accra and its monitoring team was tasked to investigate.

“A monitoring exercise carried out on November 28, 2012 from the Authority’s Fixed Monitoring Station revealed that there was no interfering signal on NET2 TV’s Channel (Channel 44). “

NCA said subsequently, on November 29, 2012 the Chief Technician of NET2 TV was contacted to provide details of the nature and location of the said interference so a joint monitoring exercise could be conducted.

“He indicated that a fault had just been observed on NET2 TV’s main exciter which could possibly be the cause of the interference. The NCA Monitoring Team was therefore requested by the said Technician to hold off until a new exciter has been installed after which the NCA may conduct a test if the problem still persists,” the statement said.

“While emphasizing the fact that the NCA has neither the capacity nor the interest to interfere with radio signals, we would like to assure the general public that the Authority would continue to carry out its mandate of regulating the communications space in the best interest of the country,” it added.