22. 05. 2013

NO APPLICANTS FOR TV AVALA FREQUENCY

Belgrade, May 22, 2013 (Blic) - Not even 20 days after the RBA opened the call for the national frequency of the former TV Avala, no TV stations have sent their applications. Deadline for sending applications is end June.

According to Milan Jankovic, RATEL director, this call has slowed down the process of digitalization, as the frequency must be used for coverage of 70 percent of the Serbian territory with digital signal by the end of this year.

Instead of digitalizing Serbia in phases by the summer 2015, we could have ended the entire process by the end of this year. We have proposed the modification of the allocation plan, however, the Culture Ministry and RBA thought that the competition should be called, Jankovic said.

Deputy Chairman of the RBA Council Goran Karadzic says the regulator decided to open the call for the frequency to improve the program offer, but that the final decision on the competition was still made by the Ministry of Telecommunications.

The above ministry claims the competition has been called in line with the Broadcasting Law.