Advisory: ETV logo in the photo gallery
Dhaka, July 7 (BDNEWS) – Ekushey Television, in limbo for long three years now, finally has got its license back but still cannot go on air because of a formality.
BTRC or Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission has to allocate frequency for the channel before the ETV can actually broadcast its programmes.
ETV, which now has the license to broadcast all sorts of television programmes, awaits allocation of frequency nearly three months after the channel applied for it.
Re-launch of the popular channel, widely believed to be a victim of political vendetta, has become uncertain as the BTRC has failed to dispose of the April 13 application by the ETV.
"We got our license back in April in the wake of court battles. We applied (for frequency) nearly three months ago, but haven't received a response yet," Abdus Salam, Chairman of the ETV, told BDNEWS.
ETV officials said they were preparing to resume broadcasting "anytime now" and that a final date would be announced once the BTRC finished the frequency formalities.
It indeed is a formality.
Sources said the BTRC soon after receiving the ETV application for restoration of frequency to the ETV, sought clarification from the Information Ministry whether the license issued to ETV provides for operation as a satellite or terrestrial television channel.
The Information Ministry, which finally gave the ETV the permission to resume broadcast on 11 April, 2005, did not give its ruling on the status of the channel. Instead, the ministry referred the matter to the Law Ministry for its opinion.
"The Law Ministry has been sleeping over the file for more than two months now," an official source said.
"If the office or authority which issued the license cannot clarify what the license was for, then there is a problem," the source said, referring to Information Ministry's failure to respond to BTRC's query and subsequent referral to their Law colleagues.
The ETV's prayer for return of its broadcast equipment, Tiernan Encoder (SNG) and Scientific Atlanta, has also fallen on deaf ears. The equipment, now with BTV, were seized at astonishing speed after the shutdown of the channel in August 2002.
BDNEWS/1935 hrs.
