UCC, Broadcasting Council merged
THE ICT minister has gazetted a draft bill to merge the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the Broadcasting Council, more than three years after the move was first mooted.
By Stephen Ilungole
THE ICT minister has gazetted a draft bill to merge the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the Broadcasting Council, more than three years after the move was first mooted.
The bill is intended to consolidate and harmonise the UCC Act and the Electronic Media Act, reconstitute UCC and the Broadcasting Council as one body.
The transitional body shall be headed by an interim board appointed by minister Aggrey Awori. “The primary role of the transitional body shall be to oversee and conclude the process of drafting the law and establishing the merged regulator for both communications and broadcasting in accordance with best practice and international standards,†Awori said in a notice in The Uganda Gazette on Friday.
He explained that the Uganda Communications (Transitional Converged Regulator Policy) Guideline of March 15, 2010, would be replaced with this new guideline.
“This policy guideline may be cited as the Uganda Communications (Transitional Converged Regulator Policy) Amendment Guideline, 2010 and shall come into force on December 6, 2010,†the notice indicated.
It mandates the interim to form working committees for efficient discharge of its duties and carry out the functions of the Broadcasting Council and UCC as specified in the Electronic Media Act and the Uganda Communications Act for the time being until a new law is enacted.
The transitional body shall also have a secretariat responsible for the day-to-day operations of the body and shall be headed by an interim executive director appointed by the minister.
The executive director shall also be a member of the interim board.
The transitional body shall continue to carry out the functions currently executed by UCC and the Broadcasting Council until the functions of the merged regulator are provided for by and enacted in the new law.
The two laws; the Uganda Communications Act and the Electronic Media Act shall continue to exist and provide the regulatory framework for regulating the communications and broadcasting sectors until a new law is enacted.
The interim board will be in force for a period of one year or such other period as may be determined by the minister.
“The membership of the UCC and Broadcasting Council is hereby dissolved by this instrument,†the notice added.
Sources explained that the merger had been long overdue after the proprietors of electronic media houses and national association of broadcasters petitioned President Yoweri Museveni in 2005 to have a “one-stop-centre†for the licensing of the radio and television stations and the frequency licensing and allocation.
“They sought to bring the two bodies together as they were at the time operating under two different ministries. This request was considered by the President,†said a source.
“With the convergence of technology due to the digital revolution, the difference between broadcasting and communications is becoming blurred as both services will be carried on the same platform.
“It’s no longer sustainable to have the two regulatory bodies under different ministries and yet doing the same job,†he noted.
“Keeping the Broadcasting Council under a separate home from Uganda Communications Commission will stifle the development of the industry as has been the case in some African countries.
“Most developing countries especially in Africa have failed to grasp the reality that broadcasting is both technical and content, and the two cannot be separated!
“In order for the broadcast services to be meaningful it is imperative that three critical components (content, coverage and quality) must exist in relation to each other.
“The three components are effective only when they are interrelated and when they are complementary.â€
“Any broadcast network is highly ineffective if the content is of no interest to the viewers, or if the coverage is insufficient or if the transmission quality is so poor that the programme is incapable of being viewed (in the case of television) or being heard (in the case of radio).â€
“The urgency to have the merger in place in accordance with international best practice is underpinned by the President’s directive which required that the merger be established by February.
“Again as evidenced by the delay occasioned by the absence of the digital migration policy, the delay in concluding the merger process is retarding the progress of the sector and leaving loopholes due to the absence of a framework that would facilitate the regulations of shared platforms such as the internet,†a ministry source argued.
He said it was only Uganda in the region that still had two regulators for broadcasting and communications, while globally, over 150 countries had already merged regulations.
The processing of merging the UCC and the Broadcasting Council was sanctioned by Cabinet in April 2007, while the draft digital migration policy was submitted to Cabinet for approval in September 2009, ahead of the 2015 deadline set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the global regulator.
The digital migration policy is a requirement by ITU that all member states must switch over from analogue terrestrial to digital broadcasting services by 2015. It provides for the switch off date by 2012.
“The main purpose of the migration process is to ensure that all broadcasting services operating on the analogues broadcasting networks are fully replicated on the digital broadcasting networks with the aim of switching off the analogues broadcasting at a specific point in time,†said a source.
He pointed out that digital migration was a mandatory process.
“It should be noted that countries that have not switched over after the International Telecommunications Union deadline of 2015, will experience interferences and will not be protected,†the source said.
He disclosed that the migration process requires substantial preparations and reorganisation of the broadcasting sector, which will entail substantial financial implications.
He called the draft digital migration policy key in initiating the migration process.
For this reason, he pointed out, the Broadcasting Council and the Uganda Communications Commission should merge or come under one ministry.
THE ICT minister has gazetted a draft bill to merge the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and the Broadcasting Council, more than three years after the move was first mooted.
The bill is intended to consolidate and harmonise the UCC Act and the Electronic Media Act, reconstitute UCC and the Broadcasting Council as one body.
The transitional body shall be headed by an interim board appointed by minister Aggrey Awori. “The primary role of the transitional body shall be to oversee and conclude the process of drafting the law and establishing the merged regulator for both communications and broadcasting in accordance with best practice and international standards,†Awori said in a notice in The Uganda Gazette on Friday.
He explained that the Uganda Communications (Transitional Converged Regulator Policy) Guideline of March 15, 2010, would be replaced with this new guideline.
“This policy guideline may be cited as the Uganda Communications (Transitional Converged Regulator Policy) Amendment Guideline, 2010 and shall come into force on December 6, 2010,†the notice indicated.
It mandates the interim to form working committees for efficient discharge of its duties and carry out the functions of the Broadcasting Council and UCC as specified in the Electronic Media Act and the Uganda Communications Act for the time being until a new law is enacted.
The transitional body shall also have a secretariat responsible for the day-to-day operations of the body and shall be headed by an interim executive director appointed by the minister.
The executive director shall also be a member of the interim board.
The transitional body shall continue to carry out the functions currently executed by UCC and the Broadcasting Council until the functions of the merged regulator are provided for by and enacted in the new law.
The two laws; the Uganda Communications Act and the Electronic Media Act shall continue to exist and provide the regulatory framework for regulating the communications and broadcasting sectors until a new law is enacted.
The interim board will be in force for a period of one year or such other period as may be determined by the minister.
“The membership of the UCC and Broadcasting Council is hereby dissolved by this instrument,†the notice added.
Sources explained that the merger had been long overdue after the proprietors of electronic media houses and national association of broadcasters petitioned President Yoweri Museveni in 2005 to have a “one-stop-centre†for the licensing of the radio and television stations and the frequency licensing and allocation.
“They sought to bring the two bodies together as they were at the time operating under two different ministries. This request was considered by the President,†said a source.
“With the convergence of technology due to the digital revolution, the difference between broadcasting and communications is becoming blurred as both services will be carried on the same platform.
“It’s no longer sustainable to have the two regulatory bodies under different ministries and yet doing the same job,†he noted.
“Keeping the Broadcasting Council under a separate home from Uganda Communications Commission will stifle the development of the industry as has been the case in some African countries.
“Most developing countries especially in Africa have failed to grasp the reality that broadcasting is both technical and content, and the two cannot be separated!
“In order for the broadcast services to be meaningful it is imperative that three critical components (content, coverage and quality) must exist in relation to each other.
“The three components are effective only when they are interrelated and when they are complementary.â€
“Any broadcast network is highly ineffective if the content is of no interest to the viewers, or if the coverage is insufficient or if the transmission quality is so poor that the programme is incapable of being viewed (in the case of television) or being heard (in the case of radio).â€
“The urgency to have the merger in place in accordance with international best practice is underpinned by the President’s directive which required that the merger be established by February.
“Again as evidenced by the delay occasioned by the absence of the digital migration policy, the delay in concluding the merger process is retarding the progress of the sector and leaving loopholes due to the absence of a framework that would facilitate the regulations of shared platforms such as the internet,†a ministry source argued.
He said it was only Uganda in the region that still had two regulators for broadcasting and communications, while globally, over 150 countries had already merged regulations.
The processing of merging the UCC and the Broadcasting Council was sanctioned by Cabinet in April 2007, while the draft digital migration policy was submitted to Cabinet for approval in September 2009, ahead of the 2015 deadline set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the global regulator.
The digital migration policy is a requirement by ITU that all member states must switch over from analogue terrestrial to digital broadcasting services by 2015. It provides for the switch off date by 2012.
“The main purpose of the migration process is to ensure that all broadcasting services operating on the analogues broadcasting networks are fully replicated on the digital broadcasting networks with the aim of switching off the analogues broadcasting at a specific point in time,†said a source.
He pointed out that digital migration was a mandatory process.
“It should be noted that countries that have not switched over after the International Telecommunications Union deadline of 2015, will experience interferences and will not be protected,†the source said.
He disclosed that the migration process requires substantial preparations and reorganisation of the broadcasting sector, which will entail substantial financial implications.
He called the draft digital migration policy key in initiating the migration process.
For this reason, he pointed out, the Broadcasting Council and the Uganda Communications Commission should merge or come under one ministry.