Kenya should have switched off its main analogue television transmitter before Christmas. Then a legal challenge saw switch off postponed to February, and then another 30 days pending a legal decision. Now a Nairobi court has said switch off must take place on September 30th, stating that the earlier decisions were not correctly mandated and that the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) was not authorised to issue new digital licences.

A three-person panel of Appeal Court judges declared that the previous decisions – and the digital licences issued – are declared null and void.  They directed that the CCK successor, the Communications Authority of Kenya – which should be independently constituted – carry out a fresh tendering process.

Moreover the Court of Appeal says that the three broadcasters who lodged the application (Royal Media Services, Nation Media Group and the Standard Group) will automatically receive digital broadcasting licences without having to go through the tendering process.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DSO