The Azerbaijani Minister for Information Technology, Ali Abbasov, stated on 18 January that the absence of a protocol on distribution of channels at the border with Iran is the major reason for penetration of Iranian channels onto the air time of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
The Minister informed the organization of a meeting to be held soon. The Ministry held a monitoring and revealed that local television channels AzTV, ITV, Radio Antenn and ATV do not have problems in this area, while other private television channels Lider, ANS and Space face problems in broadcasting. For instance, Lider is transmitted only to Lankaran, South Azerbaijan and the broadcasting is of a poor quality. During the evening private home antennas powered by electricity, fail to work to full capacity due to the absence of electricity tension. This brings about gaps in the broadcasting. ANS and Space also face similar problems. He noted the need to toughen up technical requirements on channels to prevent such problems.
We intend to appeal to the National Council of TV and Radio Broadcasting with regards to toughening up the requirements, the Minister stressed.