Financial Times

CBNsat subscribers will have a longer wait to get the transmission as company officials grapple with government authorities over issues ranging from the wrong licence, fears of LTTE programmes and transmission of Fashion TV.

CBNsat (Communiq Broadband Network (PVT) Ltd) has been trying to restore its license to resume the transmission since its equipment was sealed off on June 6, shutting out programmes for its 20,000-odd subscribers.

The company has taken the CID to court in an attempt to lift the seal imposed on them. However, officials say, the case has been dragging on as the authorities have been raising different issues against CBNsat. The initial allegation was that the company had brought in the equipment without proper approval or licenses and that the company did not have broadcasting licenses under the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Act for which the company provided proper legal documents and the licenses obtained from the TRC (Telecommunications Regulatory Commission).

Further the company has also argued that the Act is not applicable, however they have applied for this license as well with the hope of resuming transmission as soon as possible.

Now the authorities have brought on another issue regarding the fact that the transmission includes Fashion TV whereas other cable companies who are still on air transmit this channel without any censorship. “Why have we been singled out,” asked Dilani Nandasiri, CBN’s Legal Manager. The authorities had not stated why they were objecting to Fashion TV but TV viewers said it’s possibly because often models could be seen scantily dressed, with more clothes off than on!

The authorities have also brought in a security issue saying that the LTTE could have access to CBNSat’s transmission and transmit their channel through CBNsat.

The government has also agued that the fact that the LTTE has bought capacity in the same satellite that CBNsat has bought space for their transmission purposes, is highly suspicious.

However Nandasiri told The Sunday Times FT that despite CBNsat offering to take Fashion TV off transmission and let any governmental authority monitor their transmission 24 hours-a-day the authorities have still refused to issue them even a temporary license to transmit.

The Media Ministry has told courts that the existing Act is outdated and that it does not cover current issues. Thus the ministry has said they will have to revise the Act first before issuing any licenses to the applicants which would take about three more months. However some other similar service providers are still in operation even though the ministry has refused to issue a temporary license to CBNsat till the act is revised.

The ban has cost the company huge financial losses not only in terms of revenue but also in terms of marketing. “We have incurred huge costs as we have invested hugely on our marketing and brand name and we do not want to penalize our staff so we are incurring overheads costs as well,” said Nandasiri, adding she also raised issues about the way they were treated regardless of the fact that they are a BOI company.

Nandasiri said that they appreciate the fact that their customers have stood by them and said that they will not shut down. “We will resume transmission but we cannot say when as it is completely out of our hands.”