CCK opens new war with RMS over frequencies

Communications Commission of Kenya director general Francis Wangusi at a past media event. FILE 

By VICTOR JUMA

Posted  Monday, April 29  2013 at  19:39

The Communications Commission of Kenya has opened a fresh battle against businessman SK Macharia with an order to his Citizen TV channel to shut down seven frequencies.
The regulator has given Royal Media Services (RMS), which owns Citizen TV, 30 days to stop operating transmitters in Narok and Menengai Hill (Nakuru), Nanyuki, Maili Nne (Nyahururu), Kilifi, Kitui, and Mwingi.
Of the seven, five are new sites while two (Narok and Menengai) are among the 17 that the regulator sought to shut down on February 2 before the media firm got a reprieve from the courts.
But on April 18 the High Court dismissed the case filed in February by RMS, opening the way for the CCK to order a fresh shut down of the frequencies that regulator says were unlicensed.
“It has come to our attention that the following frequencies are being operated without a licence and therefore, in contravention of the law,” CCK director general Francis Wangusi says in a notice appearing in Tuesday’s dailies.
“The current users of these resources are hereby served with a 30-day notice to cease using these frequencies, failing which CCK shall take measures at its disposal.”
High Court judge Lydia Achode on April 18 dismissed a case filed in February by RMS seeking to stop the CCK from interfering with the transmitters on grounds that the regulator had acted within the law.
According to the Kenya Communication Amendment Act 2009, using telecoms equipment that has not been approved by CCK attracts a penalty of Sh5 million or three years in jail on conviction.
CCK says some of the transmitters are interfering with other broadcasters in East Africa and avionic communication, threatening Kenya’s airspace safety.
“In some instance, the interferences are so intense that the services of other broadcasters ... have been rendered completely inoperable,” said Mr Wangusi.
Royal Media and CCK have been locked in a long-drawn battle over TV and radio frequencies operated by the media firm. CCK says that between 2002 and 2006, the company had acquired 67 FM radio and 10 TV frequencies without approval from the regulator.
vjuma@ke.nationmeda.com

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