Accra, Feb. 10, GNA- The National Communications Authority (NCA) on Tuesday said it has become necessary to regulate the operations of Frequency Modulation (FM) stations in terms of coverage area, transmitted power and alliance with other stations.
It is however, yet to come out with a policy that would address the main legal issues about the operations of the FM Stations regarding their operations outside their original geographical radius as was stated in the law establishing them.
The NCA was responding to a questionnaire the GNA sent to it on some issues arising out of the operations of the FM stations.
It said it was not able to say whether the practice of radio stations operating outside their jurisdictions was illegal or legal. The questionnaire also sought to establish the legality and veracity of the operations of FM stations in the country outside their original jurisdictions.
This is especially so considering the fact that such practice was in the long term depriving regional FM stations of business and reach since urban FM stations are known to have more clout and financial muscle. The NCA said "we cannot say that what they are doing now is illegal or legal since we do not want to stall the development of technology and advancement of the industry.
"Presently, it is not illegal for any station to have collaboration with other stations in terms of programmes since there is yet to be a policy on it, though the new policy being drawn by the National Communications Authority will take care of all these aspects of FM Broadcasting."
"What we are doing now is preparing to hold consultations with the Private Broadcasters Association to fashion out an acceptable legal framework for their operations," Major K. Owusu Adansi, Director of Frequency Management said.
The NCA said no new measures had been introduced, and the Policy would take care of all emerging phenomenon that needed to be controlled. It said that the Communications Industry in Ghana was still young and was growing at a phenomenal speed but NCA was strategically placed to ensure that the necessary control measures were put in place at the appropriate time.
The NCA said originally, the objective of the NCA was to encourage more stations to be established and "therefore it was not much limitation given to the private and the public FM stations." The NCA has four main categories of FM stations in the country. These are experimental stations, private FM stations, public FM stations and community radio stations.
Experimental stations are for training purposes and for research activities usually in the universities and tertiary institutions. Private FM stations are commercial private radio stations that operate on commercial business lines while public FM stations are those enjoined to broadcast public and social services for the benefit of society.
These stations, like GBC Radios have programmes, which are not necessarily based on commercial considerations. They are not supposed to be fully commercial.
Community radio stations, the last in the list are authorized for the benefit of the community and limited in coverage to about 10-kilometer radius and are supposed to be purely non-commercial
