Frequency gets scarce

Procedures for opening new radio and television stations in Tanzania have become stricter as telecommunications regulations strive to ready the skies for digital broadcasting while barring dubious applicants from acquiring frequencies.
Corporate Affairs Manager from the headquarters of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, TCRA Mr. Innocent Mungy, confirmed to The Express in Dar es Salaam in an exclusive interview that exhaustion of both TV and Radio frequencies, particularly for Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza regions, was undeniable.
Without revealing the names of dozens of applicants, the officer spoke about the piling up of applications from people wishing to establish radio and TV stations, especially at this particular moment as the country nears the general elections slated for next October.
Among the applicants on the waiting list are legislators, perhaps well convinced that through community radios under their grip they would be able to push forwards their ambitions to secure positions in the next parliament.
Nonetheless, the practicality leading to the establishment of FM radio has proved to be ‘an up-hill struggle to climb’ contrary to the expectations of applicants, who believed that establishment of a radio or TV station was simply a matter of installation of some machines and quick acquisition of an operational license to go on the air instantly.
This is not the case, says Mungy because radio or TV broadcasting is a sensitive undertaking which should be monitored round the clock. Misuse of the facility would be detrimental to the nation security-wise. You all remember what happened in Rwanda in 1994 when uncontrolled radio stations were used to incite violence.
Rigorous registration procedures, coupled with verification by the technical working staff, programmes to be aired throughout the year and other obligations proved to be difficult for some of the applicants who wished to have everything accomplished overnight.
“Information conveyed to the general public is sensitive and cannot be taken lightly. For security reasons, opening a radio or a TV station requires approval by the relevant authorities. Therefore TCRA is not ‘sitting on’ people’s applications, but rather some of the applicants have proved inconsistent in responding to basic requirements,” Mungy explained.
Notwithstanding, he added, the biggest challenge is the unavailability of TV and Radio frequencies, a notion that applicants find it difficult to comprehend. (‘Finished frequencies?’).
In recognition of the confusion, the TCRA spokesperson clarified some of the issues raised by anonymous complainants who criticized TCRA for what they termed excessive delays, fearing that the end result would be total misplacement or nullification of their application forms altogether.
“TCRA will always abide by professional ethics. No shortcut to the acquisition of a broadcasting license irrespective of the pressure applied. Only qualified applicants receive operational permits after passing through various stages of scrutiny to authenticate their project. The decision is accomplished in a collective manner before recommendations are forwarded to higher authorities for consultations,” Mungy explained.
However, lack of knowledge about the allocation of a frequency spectrum remained the underlying cause of grievances among some applicants, who find it extremely difficult to internalize this concept of ‘exhausted frequency’.
To make the subject simpler, the manager drew the analogy of a plot of land when discussing frequency allocations. He said since it is unlawful to allocate the same plot of land to different people, Frequency Modulation (FM) is also allocated to one person or used for specified purposes.
Exhaustion of the frequency becomes real as some of the communication waves are used for navigation purposes, TV, Aircrafts, security bodies (police and the army) and exhaustion is undeniable. But the question is why do applicants basically opt for a FM frequency spectrum?
The entire process is supervised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the mission being to enable the growth and sustained development of telecommunications and information networks, and to facilitate universal access to the emerging information society and global economy.
The priority of the ITU is bridging the so-called "digital divide" by building adequate and safe information and communication infrastructure, and developing confidence in the use of cyberspace through enhanced online security.
Investors apply for FM radio licenses, which are commonly used at VHF (Very High Frequency) for sound reproduction, also known as high-fidelity, for broadcasts of music and speech. Normal (analog) TV sound is also broadcast using FM.
FM is a form of modulation which conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its frequency (contrast this with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant).
FM is also used at audio frequencies to synthesize sound. This technique, known as FM synthesis, was popularized by early digital synthesizers and became a standard feature for several generations of personal computer sound cards.
A high-efficiency radio-frequency switching amplifier can be used to transmit FM signals. For a given signal strength, switching amplifiers uses less battery power and typically costs less than a linear amplifier. This gives FM another advantage over other modulation schemes that require linear amplifiers, such as AM and QAM.
Tanzania has set the 2015 shift deadline from analog to the digital system of broadcasting to comply with the international telecommunication agreement.
For this matter, people seeking to open radio and TV stations have been advised to give serious consideration to major options; They should consider installation of compatible high-tech machines to comply with the digital deadline, and secondly move out of Dar es Salaam, currently lacking the needed frequencies. It appears that Dodoma and Singida are the immediate targets after Arusha and Mwanza, already stuffed with several FM radios on air.
Commenting on non-performing radio stations that appear to have inefficiently occupied frequencies which are badly needed by others, the TCRA spokesperson said the performance level of every single station was closely monitored, and some might end up losing their permits when coming to the end of the authorized operational duration of three or five years, unless they put up with the agreed presentation of the recommended materials.
“In case it happens that some fail to deliver accordingly, their replacement will follow immediately by those on the waiting list. Forgers and opportunists have no chance of roaming the skies,” he insisted.
Recalling several incidents where applicants tried to cheat on the technical team, to be hired for operational purposes as per the regulations, Mungy said every applicant is obliged to hire qualified sound engineers. Unfortunately the number of such technicians in the country is so limited that it happens that five different applicants claim to have concluded a deal with the same sound engineer, but later it is discovered to be untrue.