Walu,
Thanks for your comments. However, the implications of erection
of transmitters without authorization are quite grave. As we indicated in our
press statement, the safety of our airspace is at stake here. The KCAA and
Kenya Airways have lodged complaints with us regarding interferences in
communication between pilots and the control towers at our airports. The
situation is even more grave for helicopters and small planes which usually fly
at low altitude, and which could easily crash into transmitters put up on hills
without approval and which the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority has no
information about. The Kenya Association of Air Operators clearly explained
this issue during our press conference today. Our presidential candidates are traversing
the country using helicopters. In any case we gave a 30-day notice on 3rd
December 2012, which RMS ignored.
Our mandate is not been suspended because of the impending
elections. We are simply executing our mandate, and therefore trying to avert a
disaster and to ensure that there is no impunity in the ICT sector. I am
sure if a disaster happened as a result of use of unauthorized frequencies and
erection of illegal transmitters, the argument would be quite different.
Wambua
From: Walubengo J
[mailto:jwalu@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2013 5:03 PM
To: Wambua, Christopher
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] CCK shuts down illegal broadcast transmitters
@Wambua,
Its nice to see that CCK can
finally bite...and the move is long overdue. Which brings in the burning
issue in the blogsphere - Why now? Just like the digital switch off saga, the
coincidence with the looming election is something that could and should have
been avoided.
One can only wish the axe should
have fallen earlier rather than now.
walu.
From:
"Wambua, Christopher" <Wambua@cck.go.ke>
To: jwalu@yahoo.com
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Sent: Saturday, February 2, 2013 11:10 AM
Subject: [kictanet] CCK shuts down illegal broadcast transmitters
Listers,
CCK
shuts down unauthorized broadcast transmitters
The Commission has this morning shut down six Royal Media
Services broadcast transmitters in Nakuru, Narok, Mukuyuni (Makueni) and Mabrui
(Malindi) which were being operated without a licence and using unauthorized or
‘grabbed’ frequencies.
The six are part of 17 transmitters put up illegally by
Royal Media Services in the recent past without a licence from CCK, and
therefore in contravention of the law. Some of the transmitters are
located in non-designated broadcasting sites thus causing interferences to
other critical services including aviation. A further 22 FM and 2 TV
unauthorized frequencies that Royal Media Services acquired in the same manner
between 2008 and 2012 are pending adjudication in the courts.
Section 35 of the Kenya Information and Communications
Act, 1998, outlaws the setting up and operation of communications
apparatus without authorization from CCK.
Addressing the media today, CCK Director General Mr.
Francis W. Wangusi said the illegal transmitters were causing interferences to
broadcasters in Kenya and the region, and interfering with avionic
communication thus threatening the safety of Kenya’s airspace.
“In some instance the interferences are so intense that the
services of other broadcasters using duly authorized frequencies have been
rendered completely inoperable,” said Mr. Wangusi.
He added that the safety of our airspace was under threat
as these illegal transmitters had on a number of occasions caused interferences
to communication between pilots and the control tower at our main
airports.
The Commission shall in the next few days shut down the
remaining 11 illegal stations to ensure that all players in the broadcasting
sector operate within the law.
CCK is the only state organ charged with the responsibility
of managing Kenya’s frequency spectrum. Central management of the
frequency spectrum is critical in ensuring orderly exploitation of this scarce
and limited resource, and to avoid interferences among various spectrum users.
All spectrum users, therefore, are required to operate
under a licence issued by CCK and which must be kept in force through adherence
to the operational parameters stipulated in the licence. Mr. Wangusi said
the grab up of frequencies had no place in Kenya, where there is an existing
institutional framework in place for managing frequencies.
Unauthorized use of spectrum amounts to an act of impunity
and flies in the face of the regulatory requirement to provide an equal
platform for all players. It also denies the regulator of spectrum
resources to address the policy objectives of plurality and diversity, and to
cater for devolution requirements as envisaged in the constitution.
The full press statement by the CCK Director General is
attached.
Christopher Wambua
Manager/Communications
Consumer and Public
Affairs Division
Communications Commission
of Kenya
P.O. Box 14448, NAIROBI
00800
KENYA
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