Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambique’s National Communications Institute (INCM), the regulatory body for telecommunications, has suspended the radio and television licenses of more than 300 national entities because of their non-compliance with the law.
According to an INCM statement, the decision results from the fact that these entities have not used their licenses for a period exceeding six consecutive months and, in several cases, due to non-payment of the regulatory fees.
“The revocation of licenses is part of the ongoing effort by the INCM to strengthen regulatory discipline in the sector, ensure the correct use of the radio spectrum, and promote its availability to operators and entities that meet legal and regulatory requirements”, reads the document.
The body also reaffirms its commitment to the modernization of the communications sector and to the consolidation of a transparent, efficient market oriented towards the digital transformation of the country.
“The INCM has the duties of ensuring the efficient management of the radio spectrum, guaranteeing the rational use of scarce resources and promoting a healthy, transparent competitive environment in accordance with current legislation”, reads the note.
But the note is singularly uninformative. The INCM does not name one of the 300 bodies that are losing their licences. Not one.
AIM asked the INCM for more information, but without success. Currently, we do not know whether any news media are being switched off, or whether the 300 are just companies that are no longer using their telecommunications licences.
Last year, the country’s civil society organizations criticized the INCM when it decided to switch off the transmitters of three community radio stations in the northern province of Nampula, claiming that the decision was based on political issues.
However, the INCM claimed that the decision to shut down the three community radio stations (Encontro, Haq and Vida) was related to an allegation of “interference of radio signals with communications from the control tower at Nampula Airport, as well as with aircraft approaching the airport.”
Source: AIM
