The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it was planning to issue operational licenses for low and medium--powered radio stations in different stages after the legislature passed an amendment to the Broadcasting and Television Act (廣播電視法) earlier this week.
The amendment, passed by the legislature on Tuesday, enables the commission to issue licenses through auction, public tenders or a qualification review by NCC commissioners as well as other methods deemed appropriate.
With several underground radio stations eager to turn legal, the lawmakers also passed a resolution requiring the commission to establish rules on the acquisition of radio licenses within six months after the amendment is passed.
NCC spokesperson Chen Jeng-chang (陳正倉) said the commission had identified 155 radio -frequencies that could be released to the public, including the Broadcasting Corp of China’s Formosa Network and I Like Radio.
Chen said 22 radio licenses would be reserved for schools, communities or civic groups, adding that the licenses in that category would be granted through a qualification review by the NCC commissioners only.
The remaining 133 radio licenses, Chen said, would be issued through a combination of the commissioners’ review and auction, provided that those acquiring the licenses not resell them to a third party within a certain period of time.
However, Chen said the commission would not give out the 155 licenses all at once, nor would it necessarily give licenses to radio stations in metropolitan areas first.
“The 155 frequencies are at different locations nationwide,” Chen said. “Not too many people would be interested in running radio stations if the locations are too remote.”
“The commission should begin issuing licenses in areas where most of the illegal radio stations have been detected,” Chen said.
Commenting on the requirement to make public the guidelines governing the issuance of the radio licenses within six months, Chen said it was a challenging task and that the commission would have to hold several public hearings to listen to thoughts and ideas from media experts and radio operators.
Nonetheless, Chen said the commission could start issuing the licenses some time in the first quarter next year.
Also, while the commission had previously planned to issue five terrestrial TV licenses, Chen said that number could change.
He also said the commission would not recommend that the government issue licenses for mobile TV services.
“The government should not mislead investors into thinking that a technology is going to be profitable by issuing licenses for it,” he said. “That is like digging a hole for them to jump in. We have learned from issuing licenses for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access [WiMAX]. Now you see that WiMAX service operators are talking about a possible merger.”
Chen also said the goal of turning off all analog signals in June next year remains unchanged, adding that the infrastructure needed to provide digital terrestrial television services could be ready by April next year.
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