Chilean Chamber of Deputies Begins Hearings on Bill to Establish National Public Radio Stations

Original article: Cámara inició ronda de audiencias en discusión de proyecto que crea radios públicas nacionales

The Public Works Commission of the Chamber of Deputies has commenced the hearing process regarding a bill that amends Law 18.168 -General Telecommunications-, to enable the creation of national public radio stations and expand the radio spectrum (Bill 18011).

This initiative, proposed by the Government, includes the legal recognition of public broadcasting services, allowing the establishment of public radio stations by strategic institutions such as National Television (TVN) and Carabineros de Chile.

Additionally, it permits other public agencies with national jurisdiction to set up their own broadcasting stations. The bill also aims to exclusively allocate the frequency band between 86 and 88 Megahertz (MHz) for this type of radio station.

Moreover, within the range of 76 to 86 MHz, the proposal outlines two main uses: facilitating the migration of AM radio to FM and creating space for community radios.

Claudio Araya, the Undersecretary of Telecommunications, explained that the proposal «aims to strengthen direct communication channels between the State and the public, for instance, during emergencies and disasters, promote territorial and cultural cohesion, and ensure access to diverse and trustworthy information, in line with the governance principles that govern public media.»

Hearings

This week, at the start of the hearings, deputies welcomed the president of the Association of Broadcasters of Chile (Archi), Cristián Gálvez, along with his legal advisor, Sebastián Zárate.

Initially, the Archi director suggested that, in the opinion of the association, the initiative presents «serious constitutional issues,» asserting that to advance towards viable regulation in this area, «it is essential to enact specific laws for state-owned enterprises, following the autonomy model that TVN currently possesses.»

Furthermore, he called for a «level playing field,» where the State «pays and participates in spectrum auctions, just like any other player.»

Additionally, Cristián Gálvez proposed conducting a prior market study to assess the impact on local radios before assigning frequencies. Ultimately, he stated that Archi is not against the existence of public radios, as long as it does not «come at the cost of undermining institutional integrity or destroying the existing local media ecosystem.»

On her part, the director of the National Association of Community and Citizen Radios of Chile (Anarcich), María Pía Matta, emphasized that the main shortcoming of this proposal is the absence of a public media law in Chile.

«There should be a law that supports and reflects the concept of public media,» Matta argued.

Lastly, Oscar Cabello, executive director of Alfacentauro, a telecommunications consultancy, expressed that in his view, this project «is not justified» since the current state television service (TVN) «is already a significant and challenging issue to resolve, making it unreasonable to expand it through new public broadcasting services.»

We will continue to provide updates.