Kenya has adopted a policy that will compel FM stations to install suitable band pass filters to prevent interference with aeronautical equipment using Kenyan airspace
FM stations in the country have been given 30 days to install the filters, which must be approved by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).
The policy mentioned that the CCK must also ensure that power transmitted by local radio stations was within the approved limits and that no station interfered with the frequencies of another station.
The policy was designed by a joint committee on Energy, Communications and Information and the House Broadcasting Committee of Kenya. It was tabled in the Kenyan parliament last October.
The committee noted that “reasons for the interference with the equipment was due to absence of band pass filters, installation of non-type approved FM transmitters which broadcast from non designated sites and transmitting beyond the maximum authorised radiated power”.
The committee said, “CCK should enforce compliance with the transmission parameters as specified in each broadcaster’s license and enforce penalties as provided by law.”
It further mandated CCK to conduct countrywide radio monitoring and surveillance exercise within the next 30 days to determine the level of compliance.
Kenyan MPs Charles Keter and Aden Duale have recently expressed fears for the safety of aircraft operating within the Kenya airspace and warned that it was disaster in the waiting.
“Kenya airspace is in danger. Instead of listening to the control tower, pilots get tuned into FM stations because of the interference with navigation instruments,” said Duale.
