How much am I bid for this airwave?
By : Anna Kocinska
The Communications Ministry and the National Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV) last week accepted the first round of bids for new radio frequencies and broadcast licenses after a lengthy dispute on how to conduct an auction.
By moving forward on the auction, the two government bodies paved the way for the nation's top two radio stations to renew concessions that are set to expire in mid-2001. In addition to opening up the auction to the existing stations, the Communications Ministry and the council are considering reallocating spectrum that would create eight new frequencies. Those new frequencies are expected to be used either by new operators or existing radio stations wanting to increase their reach.
Radio Zet and RMF FM, the nation's top two radio stations, applied last month for new licenses covering 47 frequencies they already hold. To obtain the 47 frequencies, however, the two radio stations will have to outbid other applicants, if they occur. The KRRiTV, which allocates radio and television spectrum, will likely publish an official list of applicants for the two sets of 47 frequencies this week.
"But we are still waiting for applications that might have been sent by mail," said Joanna Stempien-Rogalinska, the press spokesman for KRRiTV Chairman Juliusz Braun.
The KRRiTV and the ministry are now expected to start a second round of bidding for frequencies currently being used by three other radio networks: Catholic station Radio Maryja, a group of dioceses' radio stations and a network of local radio stations. Stempien-Rogalinska said that the council would publish an announcement to auction up to 121 frequencies currently held by Radio Maryja by the end of this month.
Under media law, before the council and Communications Ministry can award a new license, they are first required to run an announcement in the press stating the number of available frequencies and when broadcasters can apply for them.
The close of bids last week followed three months of wrangling between the two government bodies, which failed to agree on the contents of two announcements to be published for the auction of the two nationwide networks, composed of 47 frequencies.
While Communications Minister Tomasz Szyszko said he wanted to free up new frequencies by reshaping the existing networks, the council accused the minister of delaying the concession process.
Broadcasters, meanwhile, became increasingly impatient with the delays and charged the council with not having clear rules for the auction.
According to Stempien-Rogalinska, the broadcast concession process could have been started earlier because the dispute between the two government bodies was not substantial. "The council was waiting for the minister's opinion on the first two announcements from July until October and it turned out that the differences weren't serious at all," she said. "As a result of the dispute, there are only a few additional frequencies that can be obtained."
According to the minister, however, maximizing the available radio spectrum was vital. In November, Szyszko said it was possible to spare 12 additional frequencies out of 103 used by Radio Zet and RMF FM, arguing that they could be granted to other broadcasters. The minister based his arguments on an analysis prepared by the Communications Institute in Wroclaw. But the council said that only five frequencies could be spared without affecting existing stations' reach. Krzysztof Kouyoumdjian, PR manager for Radio Zet, said eight frequencies can be spared. "The minister and the council are still discussing that option," Stempien-Rogalinska said.
The Communications Ministry told Radio Zet that it could only apply for 47 frequencies even though it uses 55. "If such an opportunity (to apply for an additional eight frequencies) occurs, we will consider it," Kouyoumdjian said. "At the same time, we are aware that there may be more broadcasters applying for our network, but we are not nervous because we hope that the council will take into account the fact that Radio Zet has adequate financial backing, necessary broadcasting facilities and is listened to by a considerable part of society."
