Egyptian Media Production City, Osama el-Sheikh, ERTU, Egypt curbs private channels, Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt’s telecoms regulator has stopped satellite firms from providing live feeds to private TV channels, Reuters has reported. Channels whose permits have been cancelled will only be allowed to broadcast through studios affiliated with Egyptian Media Production City.
While critics see this move as an attempt to curb political dissent ahead of the November parliamentary elections, state officials claim the decision was taken merely to “regulate the independent media”.
Osama el-Sheikh, director of the state-backed broadcaster Egyptian Radio and TV Union (ERTU) backed the government’s claims adding that the measures were aimed at regulating "companies that set up satellite news gathering units (SNGs) to offer live broadcast feeds to channels” although they did not have permits or licences to do the same.
