Albania

[AL] Regulator approves PBS fee for digital network hosting

IRIS 2016-4:1/28

Ilda Londo

Albanian Media Institute

On 29 March 2016, the Audiovisual Media Authority (AMA) approved the fee that the public broadcaster Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (RTSH) will charge to operators that will be hosted in the second digital network that the public broadcaster RTSH is building. The decision followed previous meetings organized with the participation of local broadcasters that are supposed to use the network.

The final fee that was approved by AMA was in the amount of 1,073 Euro per month, without VAT. The fee will be applicable for no more than a year, and then AMA will revisit it again. In addition, the fee will vary based on the location of the broadcasters and the area they will cover. So, for the central allotment of Tirana and Durres the double amount of the proposed fee will be applied, namely 2,146 Euro per month. The fees will change according to the location. To the most populous cities in the Western Plain, along the coast, and Korca and Shkodra higher fees will apply, and to the more remote and isolated areas lower monthly fees will apply. Overall, the fees will range from 365 Euro to 2146 Euro per month.

The fee was approved after several negotiations between the regulator AMA and the public broadcaster RTSH, as well as discussions with local operators. RTSH will manage two of the seven national terrestrial digital networks that Albania has.