(SPP/IFEX) – The telecommunications regulatory board, the National Telecommunications Commission (Comision Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CONATEL), has postponed the radio frequencies auction for sixty days. As a result of roundtable discussions with organisations representing community radio stations, which were mediated by representatives of non-governmental and human rights organisations, CONATEL President VÃctor Bogado agreed to sign an […]
(SPP/IFEX) – The telecommunications regulatory board, the National Telecommunications Commission (Comision Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, CONATEL), has postponed the radio frequencies auction for sixty days. As a result of roundtable discussions with organisations representing community radio stations, which were mediated by representatives of non-governmental and human rights organisations, CONATEL President VÃctor Bogado agreed to sign an agreement postponing the public auction, which would have granted 108 frequencies to community radio stations throughout Paraguay. In the intermittent time, the community radio stationsâ concerns about the auctioning of frequencies to community and alternative stations will be considered during ongoing negotiations.
The agreement to postpone the auction was signed following the roundtable discussion held on 24 July 2000. Two days later, on 26 July, APRAP and APRI, the two main institutions representing the countryâs commercial radio station owners, distributed a press release urging CONATEL not to modify the format of the frequencies auction. The two institutions added that they would support CONATELâs closing of the stations they call “clandestine, pirate or community-based”.
The commercial radio stationsâ representatives further noted that community radio stations were set up for small neighbourhoods, and therefore should be assigned a low capacity. They thus expressed their opposition to granting community radio stations capacity similar to that of commercial radio stations, which range from 1,000 to 25,000 watts. Under the currently suspended bidding process, a capacity of 20 watts was being offered to community radio stations. This would have in effect marginalised them, in contravention of Telecommunications Law 642, the Constitution and the Agreement of San José, Costa Rica, which guarantee equal access to radio frequencies.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– expressing your support for the postponement of the frequencies auction
– asking for the establishment of a participatory dialogue involving the government and all alternative communication sectors in Paraguay, so that they can ensure equal access to radio frequencies, as stipulated in national and international regulations
– asking that the roundtable dialogue between CONATEL and the representatives of alternative and community radio stations include a discussion on regulations governing these radio stations, in accordance with the Telecommunications Law, the Constitution and the Agreement of San José, Costa Rica
– urging them to resist the pressure coming from groups which support frequency ownership concentration by powerful economic groups, and work towards the democratisation of communications in Paraguay
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
VÃctor Bogado
President of the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL)
Asuncion, Paraguay
Fax: +595 21 494 424 / 498 888
José Alberto Planás
Minister of Public Works
Asuncion, Paraguay
Fax: +595 21 449 792 / 443 559
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
