Dhaka, Jan 7 (bdnews24.com) – Police stopped terrestrial transmission of private TV network Ekushey Television in Chittagong on Tuesday, hours after it 'illegally' made the transmission.
The action came after state-run BTV's Chittagong centre filed a general diary against ETV alleging that the private TV station was illegally transmitting terrestrial signals.
Police said they had found truth in the allegation and shut the ETV's terrestrial transmission at BTV's Agrabad Television Transmission Tower.
BTV's general manager Rezaul Haq Al Quadri had filed the GD with the city's Double Mooring Police Station on Tuesday night.
ETV chairman Abdus Salam did not refute the charges.
He told bdnews24.com the terrestrial equipment across the country were being tested.
"We've equipments across the country for terrestrial transmission. Those are being tested for the last few days. Terrestrial signals might have been transmitted while being tested," he added.
Salam, however, refused to admit that the transmission was illegal, as he claimed there was no legal bar on terrestrial transmission.
Quoting the GD, the Double Mooring police sub-inspector Delwar Hossain said, "The ETV illegally transmitted the new government's swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday evening in the Chittagong region."
"The government had decided earlier that no other TV channel than the BTV will be given the terrestrial rights," Delwar added.
Terrestrial transmission can cover a much wider area as it allows end users to receive TV signals using a normal antenna, without a satellite signal receiving antenna.
As they police to the Agrabad Television Transmission Tower, Double Mooring officer-in-charge Ziaul Alam said, an ETV engineer, Fariduddin, told them that the private channel was expecting terrestrial licence within few days.
"So a test transmission was being conducted," Fariduddin was quoted by OC Ziaul Alam as saying.
Police said the ETV has transmission equipment in an office adjacent to the BTV's Chittagong centre tower area. Tuesday's transmission was conducted from that office using a tower of BTCL (Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited).
Fariduddin admitted to police that no permission for the "test transmission" from the BTV had been taken.
Information secretary Jamil Osman termed the terrestrial transmission an "illegal act", and told bdnews24.com: "Such an (illegal) incident occurred there."
"However, it was not done using any BTV facility. Directives have been given to stop such transmission as soon as possible," Osman said.
In a case filed against the government, the Supreme Court on Aug. 29, 2002 ordered to shut ETV transmission, saying there had been irregularities in the licensing procedure.
The then BNP-led government was clearly not very keen to defend the charges, and acted quickly to shut the station as soon as the highest court gave the order.
Following a legal battle, the outgoing caretaker government on May 29, 2007 permitted the channel to operate only satellite transmission.
The ETV, spearheaded by the late A S Mahmud, has since witnessed massive ownership and boardroom changes before its re-launch as satellite station.
Mahmud had the single largest shareholding from among local sponsors and Citibank N, along with other US investors, owned the majority shares in the company.
The composition of the current board is not clear following the changes in shareholding.
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