Broadcasters to pay at least Gy$ 2.5M annually

By Michael Younge

Guyana National Broadcast Authority Board Chairman Shaddick has disclosed that Cabinet has approved the formula that would be used to determine the licence fee that each approved broadcaster will pay for the use of the spectrum. The new broadcast act provides the formula, which is based on technical specifications that are set by the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU).
The fee is a percentage of gross revenue for the year prior to the year that the entity is seeking approval for.
Audited accounts
The GNBA head said the monies would be calculated using figures that form part of the specific entity’s audited accounts for the previous year, but quickly informed the media that the board had taken a “practical decision”. This decision will see 2011 being used as the baseline year to determine the payments due because it is not likely that at December 31 of any given financial year, those entities would be in possession of fully audited accounts.
Shaddick also announced that new applicants that have never broadcast but were granted permission to do so in 2011 and came into being before the enactment of the broadcast authority act, would be required to pay the minimum sum of Gy$ 2.5 million as their licensing fee.
Further justifying the amount which some broadcasters feel is exorbitant, Shaddick maintained that “you have to value this commodity called broadcasting space”. Shaddick announced that broadcast operators were required to pay fees for all frequencies they own and operate, inclusive of primary and secondary channels, feeders and links.
Meanwhile, on March 14 in Parliament, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds listed the number of persons/ companies who were granted permission to broadcast television, cable and radio signals.
Specifically for radio, those granted permission are the National Communications Network (NCN/ Government), Radio Guyana Inc (Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop), Telecor and Cultural Broadcasting Inc (Omar Lochan), NTN Radio (Anand Persaud), New Guyana Company Ltd (Dharam Kumar Seeraj), Wireless Connections (Maxwell Thom), Hits and Jams Entertainment (Rawle Fergusson), Alfro Alphonso and Sons Enterprise (Alfro Alphonso), Haslyn Graham (of Linden), Little Rock Television Station (Rocliffe Christie), and Rudy Grant, the younger brother of international singer Eddy Grant
In addition, the government of Guyana has officially paid Gy$ 500,000 to Television Guyana Inc (TVG, as successor to Vieira Communications Limited (VCT), for damages after it was sued for breaching the company’s fundamental rights to a radio broadcast licence.
Court decision
The move came after a Court of Appeal Order was issued to the government’s Legal Affairs Ministry, following the company’s success at advancing arguments at the levels of the High Court and the Appeal Court.
The cheque was paid in March, originally to TVG, which had purchased all of the properties and assets of VCT. However, a decision was taken by TVG’s owner Dr Ramroop to pay the monies over to former People’s National Congress/ Reform (PNC/ R) parliamentarian and businessman Anthony Vieira, as the company’s final obligations and commitment to him following the sale of VCT and all related properties.
Vieira has since received the cheque via registered mail and has already cashed it. As successor to all rights of VCT, TVG received the radio licence consequent to the judgement.
With the judgement also breaking the radio monopoly, other radio licences were issued.
In addition, on November 7, 1997, Enrico Woolford received a letter from the National Frequency Management Unit (NFMU) granting a UHF television channel for broadcast in Georgetown. However, he is yet to begin operations, after some 16 years since the granting of the permission.