The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) has expressed concern over the slow pace of roll out by some broadcasters granted broadcasting licences.
This comes days after Macra revoked a broadcasting licence for Mhlako wa Alhomwe.
Macra’s communications officer Clara Mulonya said this in an e-mail response, when giving an update on the progress made by broadcasters who applied for the licences.
“The pace is not all that good. But it should be noted that Macra is seriously analysing the causes of this to put in place measures, so broadcasting stations with licences open,” she said.
In July last year, Macra issued 15 broadcasting licences to independent radio and television stations, but very few have rolled out their activities.
A visit to Macra’s website on broadcasting licences showed that out of the 47 broadcasting licences issued recently and sometime back, 21 broadcasters are yet to roll out their services.
Mulonya said her office is still waiting to hear from some of the applicants because their time has not expired and have a chance to seek an extention of the roll-out period.
While substantiating that Mhlako Wa Alhomwe lost its licence after the expiry of both its normal and extension periods, Mulonya said there are many on the chopping board, which risk losing licences if they fail to roll out their services in time.
She revealed that the excuses her office have got so far range from struggles in sourcing funds to procurement of technical broadcasting equipment. She also said another burden to the television operators is the issue of digital migration.
“Television broadcasters will have to wait for the licensing of a signal distributor and I can assure the nation that the process is at an advanced stage,” she said.
