The Africa Union of Broadcasters (AUB) recently held a workshop on “The Future of Spectrum for Broadcasting” in Dakar, Senegal. It emphasized the position of the Union concerning the administration of the radio spectrum for Broadcasting services.
During the workshop, Secretary-General of Broadcast Network Europe (BNE), Lars Backlund, highlighted the significance of preserving the sub-700 MHz Band for terrestrial broadcasting as already indicated in the White Paper.
The White Paper was drafted by the AUB, the EBU and BNE to provide a foundation for insightful decision-making in line with the upcoming World Radio-communications Conference 2023.
Furthermore, the white paper discussed the threats and risks of distributing the Spectrum to mobile operators.
The Senior Project Manager at the European Broadcasting Union, Walid Sami, highlighted the importance of the legal and socio-economic perspective of the 2023 WRC.
The Director-General of Télédiffusion du Sénégal, Amadou Diop, stated the various strategies that can be initiated in order to elevate the level of debates.
According to Amadou Diop, African broadcasters are often not present when technical decisions are made about the administration of the spectrum.
He later asked the government to heed the call of broadcasters regarding the “No Change Approach” for the attribution of the sub- 700MHz band spectrum.
