New commercial radio licences in South Africa

South Africa’s Independent Communications Authority (ICASA) has published three Invitations To Apply (ITAs) to provide commercial sound broadcasting in the Primary and Secondary Markets as well as subscription broadcasting services.

In terms of the Primary Markets licensing process, the Authority intends to award two licences to applicants in the geographical markets in Gauteng, two in the metropolitan areas of and around Durban and a further two licences in the metropolitan areas of and around Cape Town. These amount to a total of six licences to be issued to successful applicants. It should be noted that the frequencies to be licensed for Primary Markets are on the mediumwave band.

With regard to the Secondary Markets licensing process, the Authority intends to award one licence to the successful applicant in the Northern Cape, two in Free State and one in the Eastern Cape Province. A total of four licences will be issued to successful applicants.

The number of licences to be issued for subscription broadcasting services will be determined by the level of compliance with the requirements set out in the ITA. The ITAs can be found on the ICASA website.

(Source: ICASA via Media Network Weblog)