14. 12. 2005

CONCERN OVER BROADCASTING DEVELOPMENTS

In a public statement last week, the Republic Telecommunications Agency implies that the agency’s Managing Board has adopted rules on the application of criteria to determine the rates for frequency use and methods of payment, and that these rules have been submitted to the government for endorsement. It is unacceptable that a document of such importance has been drawn up entirely without consulting the broadcasting associations whose members will be expected to pay set rates for the use of radio frequencies. ANEM notes that its members who operate public broadcast media are, in this case, the users of these telecommunications. Because of this, in setting the rates, the agency must take the interests and financial resources of users into account and the adoption of these rules should have been preceded by consultations. Failure to do so has violated one of the basic principles of regulating relations in telecommunications – the protection of users’ interests. ANEM asks the Government of the Republic of Serbia to refuse approval of these rules and to return them to the Republic Telecommunication Agency so that the agency may canvass and acknowledge the opinions of users before government approval is given. Finally, in preparation for the public competition for the issue of broadcast licenses, it is necessary that both agencies with jurisdiction in this sphere, the Broadcast Agency and the Telecommunications Agency, approach the issue at a higher level of seriousness and responsibility. ANEM expects, therefore, that the Broadcast Agency will adopt all other necessary rules and allow broadcast associations to present their objections to the draft rules. At the same time it expects the Telecommunications Agency to submit the current plan for frequency allocations to the appropriate ministry for adoption and to revise the rules on payment rates. Slobodan Stojsic Chairman, ANEM Managing Board