At the parliamentary hearings of October 22 on “The Broadcast Digitalization Process and the Consequences of Its Implementation in Armenia” (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, October 16-22, 2009) Council of Europe Expert Alec Thomas presented a report on the utilization of the UHF spectrum in Armenia. Namely, Alec Thomas announced that there are unused frequencies in Yerevan and suggested to implement an audit on frequencies. The reasonability of the audit was also mentioned by the representatives of state bodies, present at the hearings. Thereby a question occurs: why for an audit was not conducted while throughout many years a number of international documents, including several Resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe were making recommendations to hold a broadcast licensing competition, in which “A1+” TV company could take place. Instead, the officials have been declaring peremptorily that there are no free frequencies for holding a licensing competition.
