August 10, 2010

The TRA and the technical committee of the National Audio Visual Media Council (NMC)headed by Mr. Ghalib Kandil held a meeting to follow-up on the discussions about interference problems that took place previously at the Office of the Minister of Information in the presence of HE the Minister of Telecommunications Charbel Nahas and the acting Chairman and CEO of the TRA, Dr. Imad Hoballah, members in charge of the spectrum and the FM and TV broadcasting at the TRA as well as a number of media representatives and engineers.

The discussion focused on the measures to be taken to secure the safety of civil aviation, where the TRA confirmed that 90 percent of the radio and TV broadcasting sectors showed cooperation with the decisions that were taken in the previous meeting and that the complaints relating to the safety of civil aviation have dropped significantly lately as a result of the follow-up conducted by the Authority and the cooperation of the FM broadcasting stations.

The meeting also tackled the technical issues of broadcasting and the TRA efforts to prepare the Spectrum National Plan and gather the related data and information. Accordingly, another meeting has been scheduled at the National Council headquarters to follow up on what was agreed upon, and study the memorandum that the broadcasters representatives will be drafting about their technical plans. Also, a workshop organized by the TRA and the National Media Council will be planned soon to discuss all technical issues.

It was also agreed upon that the National Media Council will take over the redistribution of the “Improving FM broadcasting” consultation (previously issued for public consultation by the TRA at the end of the year 2008)to concerned parties who will have to abide by this consultation within a period specified by the Authority.

The meeting also emphasized on The importance of the cooperation between all the concerned parties to improve broadcasting in line with applicable laws and international standards.