The Independent Television Commission have issued a formal invitation to apply for a local television Restricted Service Licence (RSL) for Derry. The licence is currently held by North West Television Service Limited and will expire on 17 October 2003.
Licences for local television services are awarded for a term of four years, but they are subject to the continuing availability of the frequency channel, and consequently may be revoked if the identified frequency channel is required for any higher priority use. Further, for this particular licence the frequency has been cleared only until the end of October 2005. The licence would run to its full four year term if the radio spectrum administrations of the UK and the Republic of Ireland were to reach agreement in time for this to happen. In the absence of any such agreement to extend the clearance, the licence will be revoked on 31 October 2005. The award of a licence does not imply any warranty on the part of the ITC as to the size or location of the area actually capable of receiving the licensed service.
The service is to be provided on channel 21 from the existing transmitter site at Minkey Hill or, alternatively, from the transmitting site at Sheriff’s Mountain. Theoretical coverage is predicted to include Derry and the surrounding rural areas, also extending southwards towards Strabane. However, the quality of reception at any particular location will be highly dependent on the type of receiving aerial being used. Many households within the potential coverage area will probably not have the correct aerials required to properly receive the RSL service, and hence coverage in practice will be reduced. The ITC has not surveyed the transmission site, and applicants should make their own enquiries regarding its availability.
The frequency for Derry is available on a 'no interference no protection' basis, which means that there may be a risk of interference to reception of the Derry RSL from other transmitters in the future, and it is also possible that changes to the transmitter characteristics may be required should interference arise to services elsewhere. In the worst case, the licensee may be required to cease transmissions before the end of the four-year term of the licence. The licence will in any case be revoked on 31 October 2005 if the frequency clearance is not extended to a later date.
The existing licensee is invited to apply for the licence, as are other interested parties. All applications will be considered on their merits. Having regard to all the relevant issues, the ITC will on balance be more likely to favour continuity of service by a current licensee, unless in all the circumstances the merits of the application made by the current licensee are outweighed by the merits of an alternative application. Where there are competing applications the ITC will apply its procedures for competing applications, as set out in the Notes for the Guidance of Licence Applicants, Issue 4, January 2003.
Applications, accompanied by the non-refundable application fee of £250, should be sent to the ITC's Head of Licensing and must be received at the ITC's London office no later than noon on Wednesday 28 May 2003. Applicants must use the application form contained in the Notes for the Guidance of Licence Applicants Issue 4, January 2003.
The ITC hopes to announce the award of the licence by early August 2003.
The Invitation to Apply is available from the ITC web site (www.itc.org.uk). Included with the Invitation to Apply are Notes for the Guidance of Licence Applicants (Issue 4, January 2003), a specification of the available frequency, and a Form of Application (which is contained in these Notes for Guidance).
