Okiya Omtata has sued the Communications Authority of Kenya for switching off analogue TV broadcasting.
Activist Okiya Omtata has filed a case challenging a decision by the Communications Authority of Kenya to switch off analogue television broadcasting.
CA switched off the signals of three media houses — the Nation Media Group, the Standard Group and Royal Media Services — on Saturday afternoon.
Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has since defended the move, saying the authority served a notice to the media houses asking them to switch off their analogue transmitters by midnight February 13 in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling.
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Matiang’i: We won’t backtrack on TVs switch-off
From left: Communications Authority of Kenya chairman Ben Gituku, director frequency spectrum management Stanley Kibe, director general Francis Wangusi and Information Communication and Technology cabinet secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The government on Sunday maintained it will not backtrack on its quest to move the country from analogue to digital broadcast platforms despite calls by media owners to be given more time to acquire the right equipment.
Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i faulted the Nation Media Group, the Standard Group and the Royal Media services for “inciting the public against the government” over digital migration.
Dr Matiang’i said the Communications Authority (CA) of Kenya acted within the law when it switched off signals of the three media houses on Saturday afternoon.
The authority, he said, had served a notice to the media houses asking them to switch off their analogue transmitters by the midnight of February, 13 in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling.
Dr Matiang’i said the affected media houses defied CA’s request, prompting it to seek warrants from the Magistrate’s Court to switch off their analogue transmitters.
He said CA did not switch off the digital transmitters of the three media houses, neither did it ask any of the broadcast signal distributors (BSDs) to remove the three media houses from their platforms.
Dr Matiang’i termed the move by the media houses to switch themselves off the digital transmission of approved companies like Gotv, DSTV, Zuku, Signet and Pang and screening information about the government move, as illegal.
ILLEGAL MOVE
“Switching themselves off the digital transmission and screening inaccurate messages is both illegal and in blatant breach of the conditions of their licensing,” said Dr Matiang’i.
Following the switch-off, the four leading television stations ran a message that read: “We regret to inform our viewers that our regular broadcast are no longer on air.
Despite the ruling of February 13, 2015, reinstating us the license and frequencies for digital broadcasting, the CA has declined to allow us the requisite time to import our own transmitters and set-top boxes that will enable our viewers to receive our broadcasts on our own platform as provided by the self-Provisioning Digital Broadcasting License granted by the Supreme Court.
“Our channels are, as a result, not available on pay TV or any digital platforms.”
Media owners have maintained that they were not opposed to digital migration whose global deadline is June 17, 2015 but, want more time to put in place proper infrastructure, which include acquisition of digital decoders, antennae and transmitters, for a smooth takeoff.
The media houses are also fighting a government move to let other operators with commercial interests to carry and trade using their content, without their consent.
Meanwhile, The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) yesterday condemned the switching off of stations broadcasting in analogue platform, saying the move risks rendering many journalists jobless.
KUJ chairman Oscar Kwena Obonyo said the legal battle pitting CA against the leading media houses has now reached frightening levels.
Mr Obonyo said more than 200 journalists have been affected by CA’s decision to switch off KTN, NTV, Citizen TV and QTV stations.
“As the giant umbrella body that represents journalists, we are concerned that the Government of President Uhuru Kenyatta has kept mum and declined to arbitrate in the matter even as it boils over,” Mr Obonyo said in a statement to the media.
The journalists also expressed outrage at the government’s support for foreign firms at the expense of local players, in the communications sector.
(Source: Daily Nation)
