ETV refutes BTRC claim

Private satellite channel ETV (Ekushey Television) yesterday denied the telecom regulator's claim that they were broadcasting illegally and termed it untrue.
On Sunday evening, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regularity Commission (BTRC) served a show cause notice on ETV asking for an explanation from it for running operations illegally and gave it seven days to respond.
In the statement, ETV said the BTRC asked the channel on how it was broadcasting without radio equipment licence and with the allocated spectrum (frequency) which was withheld.
ETV claims that it has radio equipment licence while the frequency is also updated.
The statement said, “According to the demand note of the BTRC, ETV is submitting all its frequency fee and licence fee regularly. And everything is updated.
“It is a matter of surprise that the BTRC has released the letter after rebroadcast of the ETV for the last five years from 2007. So it is very easy to understand the motive of the letter,” it said.
“The BTRC letter is deliberate and threatening for the mass media. ETV authorities will respond elaborately,” the statement reads.
As the country's first private terrestrial channel, ETV broke years of state monopoly in the broadcast media. But it was shut down on August 29, 2002 following a Supreme Court verdict that declared the channel's licence illegal.
It resumed operation on December 1, 2006 as a satellite channel.