Azerbaijan, Baku, April 6 / Trend A. Huseynbala /
Claims for failure to give free radio and television frequencies have no grounds, the Nationl Television and Radio Council (NTRC) chairman Nushiravan Maharramli said.
"We have many free frequencies. There is no matter whether it is published or not," the National Television and Radio Council chairman Nushiravan Maharramli told Trend today.
Eight republican, 14 regional, 13 cable TV channels operate in Azerbaijan.
Recently, Media Rights Institute has issued a report in connection with the legal situation of media in Azerbaijan.
The Council has not taken steps to implement its task to declare tenders in connection with dozens of free frequencies for radio and television. During a seven-year period of activity it has never published a list of these frequencies, the report said.
Maharramli said that the number of frequencies will increase with the transition to digital television.
"We have opportunities to open a sufficient number of channels. But the number of TV channels can be considered taking into account such factors as the advertising market, human resources and other factors in Azerbaijan," Maharramli said.
He said that now eight Republican channels for such a state as Azerbaijan is a great indicator.
"We can not increase the number of TV channels to increase the number. Now the main task for us is to improve the quality of programs on existing channels," he said.
There is no need to increase the number of low-quality channels by opening of new channels, Maharramli said.