International broadcasters have been warned by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) that they must be in possession of the required radio frequency spectrum and type-approval licences when covering the upcoming state funeral of former president Nelson Mandela.
As the country and the world mourns the passing of the first democratically elected president, a number of international broadcasters will be descending into our shores for full coverage of the funeral,” Icasa says in a statement.
“For the coverage of international special events, broadcasters usually bring communications equipment such as satellite news gathering (SNG) [tools] to relay their broadcasts to their respective international audiences,” it says.
“The SNGs require a radio frequency spectrum licence to be allocated for this purpose and some video cameras with microphones and a wireless capability needs type-approval to ensure that there are no reported cases of interference with licensed services,” the authority says. The type-approval label has to be attached to the communication equipment.”
It says that in covering the funeral of the former president, all international broadcasters will have to go through this standard licensing process for compliance purposes. “When a radio frequency spectrum licence is issued, the licensee is obliged to show it to Icasa inspectors as they continue to conduct routine monitoring and compliance duties.”
The Icasa website has a dedicated link for special events application forms to allow international broadcasters to apply for the required licences. “It should be noted that special events licences generally take two days to be issued, but the authority will do everything to expedite such applications.” — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media
