Icasa rejects 95% of community TV applications

Communications regulator Icasa has evaluated the first phase of applications for new community television broadcasting and spectrum licences – and has rejected 95% of them.

Only one applicant of the 20 received by the regulator was successful in meeting all the pre-registration requirements and was therefore advancing to phase 2 of the process. It is the Platinum North West TV station.

Icasa views community TV services as an integral part of the three-tier (public, commercial, community) broadcasting ecosystem in South Africa.

Community TV is intended to provide broadcasting services owned and controlled by the communities it intends to serve, which may be either a geographic community or a community of interest.

As such, the service must operate on a not-for-profit basis. There are currently there are five holders of community TV licences in South Africa.

“It is unfortunate that 19 applicants were unable to meet the pre- registration requirements, despite a series of workshops that Icasa conducted across the country,” said committee chair Ntombiza Sithole.

Read: Icasa takes aim at ‘illegal’ Starlink sales in South Africa

Icasa has provided reasons for disqualification to the impacted applicants and said it remains committed to adhering to the stipulated requirements set out by the regulations to maintain the integrity of the licensing process.  – © 2023 NewsCentral Media

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