25. 12. 2005

FREQUENCY PLAN SOON IN THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT MINISTRY?

BELGRADE, December 25, 2005 – Draft Frequency Allocation Plan will be forwarded to the Serbian Capital Investment Ministry by the end of the year. The decision to deliver the frequency plan was reached at the meeting of the Telecommunications Agency Managing Board, the Broadcast Agency Council and representatives of the Serbian Ministry for Capital Investments. According to the Broadcast Agency, the adoption of the Frequency Allocation Plan is crucial for the opening of the tender for issuing licenses for radio and television program broadcast. The Telecommunications Act provides that the draft plan for allocation of frequencies be forwarded to the competent ministry by the managing board of the Telecommunications Agency. With that, all conditions will be met for calling the tender for issuing licenses for broadcasting on national and other levels, as envisaged by the Broadcast Act. Representatives of the Broadcast Agency recently accused members of the Telecommunications Agency Managing Board of obstructing the tender for license issuing. The Telecommunications Agency denied these accusations, throwing the liability to the Ministry for Capital Investments. The Agency also stated it had never been provided with the necessary equipment for an adequate analysis of the Frequency Allocation Plan. Regulation of the broadcast sector was also delayed due to the disputable legality of the members of the Broadcast Agency Council, which was overcome with their re-election. This enabled the full implementation of the Broadcast Act, adopted more than two years ago. The Broadcast Act was amended last summer. New amendments prolonged the deadline for the privatisation of local media and transformation of RTS into a republic and provincial public service broadcaster.