Colombia. After 11 years of having allocated concessions for the operation of commercial stations, the MINISTRY OF ICT opens a new process with the stage of expressions of interest, which will give way for more commercial stations to provide their services in the AM and FM bands in the national territory.
"With the opening of this call, we seek that more Colombians can access quality information and content in a timely manner. This milestone, which comes after 11 years, reaffirms our commitment to strengthening this means of communication, recognizing it as a tool that consolidates the dissemination of regional culture, social responsibility and facilitates the development of the regions, "said the ICT Minister, Karen Abudinen.
The award will be carried out through an objective selection process, which will begin with the current stage of expressions of interest and the preparation of technical and structuring studies that will serve as the basis for determining the rules and conditions that will govern the objective selection of the awardees.
The deadline for sending the expressions of interest will be until September 17, 2020 through the form provided in the link: http://gestion-espectro.mintic.gov.co/ It is important that the senders indicate the band in which they are interested, A.M. or F.M., and the municipality in which the new commercial station would provide the service.
Likewise, the head of the ICT portfolio indicated that, one of the fundamental requirements that must be met by those who express their interest in participating in the call for the allocation of concessions of commercial issuers, is to be Colombian nationals or legal entities duly constituted in the country and have a validity that is equivalent to the term of the concession and one more year.
The project has several stages, starting with the expression of interest, then the technical study of channel availability will come, then the publication of the draft of the terms of reference will be enabled, where interested parties can participate and make their comments. Once these stages have been concluded, the final terms of reference will be published, opening the process of assigning broadcasters, these will include the schedule with dates for receipt of proposals, the preliminary and final report of proposals as well as the administrative act that declares the viabilities.
Currently, 662 commercial stations are actively operating in Colombia in the 32 departments of the country. Of these, 334 are F.M stations and 328 A.M stations. With this new call, it is expected to increase the offer and coverage of this means of communication according to the completion of the concession allocation process.
To express your interest, click here.