The National Communications Authority (NCA) says it will not issue new licenses for television stations to operate in Ghana.
According to the NCA, who is the regulator of the telecoms industry in the country, the issuance of television licenses will be put on hold until the digital migration period is over in 2014. The migration has to do with the conversion or switchover of analog TV to digital.
“There is a migration process taking place and until we have been able to complete that we could not take on any new license”, said Mr. Paarock Asuman VanPercy, Director General of the NCA on Metro TV show “Good Evening Ghana” monitored by ghanabusinessnews.com on May 12, 2011.
Mr. VanPercy added that the NCA has received some applications for TV licenses but these are not been considered because of the migration.
“It has nothing to do with frequency availability”, he explained.
Ghana has ten free-to-air television stations, Mr Joseph Tetteh, a Research and Statistics Officer at the Ministry of Communications tells ghanabusinessnews.com on telephone.
Already, the Minister for Communications, Mr Haruna Iddrissu in an interview with Joy FM monitored by ghanabusinessnews.com on February 1, 2011, has hinted that government will soon renew all Television (TV) licences in the country during the digital migration period which is expected to be completed in December 2014.
This means all operating television stations like GTV, TV3, Metro TV and others such as TV Africa, Net 2 TV, Viasat 1 among others that have been licensed to operate in analogue must renew their licenses before they will be allowed to migrate to the digital platform.
By Ekow Quandzie
You got to be kidding. Please tell me this is not true. You suspend a whole tv licensing for entire country for yrs?. Is this because this is Africa, who does that. If your company is switching from analog to digital should that cost investors yrs. Why can’t the digital process be incorporated into the registering process. Allow newly licensed stations to operate digitally and switch already operating stations when required.
No wonder the country is the way it is right now. Businesses do not operate like that.
I really required a feedback on this. Please email me yours response. I would like to know when I can get a tv license in Ghana.
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