Prime Minister Samuel Hinds yesterday signed licences for 15 of the country's television broadcasting operations and issued them under the amended Wireless Telegraphy regulations he had promulgated earlier this year.

He said that there were a few other operators whom he expected would apply shortly for their licences and a few others who had objected, in principle, to applying. The Prime Minister is the responsible minister under the Wireless Telegraphy Act.

Among those not applying were two of the major television channels in Georgetown and one on the East Coast Demerara, but they are unlikely to face any sanctions immediately. The Prime Minister told reporters that he was willing to coax and persuade those stations that had not taken out their licences to do so, despite the imperfections of the system. The three channels are VCT Channel 28, WRHM, which operates on Channels 7 and 89, and HGTV Channel 16, which transmits to areas mainly on the East Coast Demerara. The operators of VCT and WRHM, Stabroek News understands, have refused to apply for licences under the amended regulations, on principle.

The licensed channels are GWTV Channel 2; CNS Channel 6, NBTV Channel 9, GTV Channel 11, RBS Channel 13, STVS Channel 4 (two licences), MBTV Channel 65, NTN Channel 69, MBC which transmits on Channels 42 and 93, Vision TV which operates on Channel 102 all in the Georgetown area; DTV Channel 8, LRTV which transmits on channels 10, 17 and 68, and CCB TV which service the Berbice area; and RCA 8 which services the Essequibo Coast.

Conditions of their licences require, among other things, that their transmission not interfere with those of other licensed operators; the operations of the stations are planned, maintained and operated by technically qualified personnel and that they inform the National Frequency Management Unit. Another condition is that the programme content of the stations should not offend good taste and Prime Minister Hinds said that this determination would be made by the Broadcast Advisory Committee (BAC) comprising University of Guyana lecturer, Pat Dial; radio engineer, Ron Case; and communications consultant, Carlton James. They were nominated respectively by President Bharrat Jagdeo, Leader of the Opposition, PNC/R leader, Desmond Hoyte and the Private Sector Commission and appointed by the Prime Minister.

The BAC was established as an interim measure to advise the Prime Minister on issues relating to good taste under the memorandum of understanding signed between President Jagdeo and Hoyte. The Prime Minister said that advising on issues of good taste was the only function that the committee had.

In brief remarks after handing over the licences to representatives of the television stations present, Prime Minister Hinds observed that their issue, which now regulates the television sector was another step in regularizing another aspect of national life. He said that yesterday's ceremony brought regularization and order to the television sector after a long process with acceptance of schedule of fees and some regulation of programme content.

The Prime Minister praised the pioneering efforts and entrepreneurial spirit of Tony Vieira, who transmits on Channel 28 and later Rex McKay who transmits on Channel 7 and 89.

He explained that because the early efforts at introducing television broadcasting along the lines of the United Kingdom's British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) would have imposed financial burdens that the government could not carry, local entrepreneurs seized the opportunity to fill the gap. "Entrepreneurial people took advantage of new evolving technology and new situations with VCR's which allowed a number of persons to have television sets and created the circumstances for the beginning of television broadcasting here in Guyana."

The Prime Minister also expressed admiration for the early efforts of CN Sharma of Channel 6, whose efforts are evolving daily, at introducing features such as birthday and death announcements and providing extensive coverage of debates in parliament. "Whatever we may say, and there were many people who were critical of some of the things that CNS was doing then, it is possibly the best example of television with Guyanese features."

However, he said, the challenge for CNS as well as for all of us "is to keep moving on."

In an oblique reference as to how he would like to address the issue of the stations that had not applied for licences under the amended regulations, Prime Minister Hinds referred to the voluntary rearrangement of channels in Georgetown, with CNS Sharma moving from Channel 12 to 6 and WRHM moving from Channel 6 to Channel 7.

This, he said, resulted in secured sections of broadcast television in Georgetown, covering Channels 2-6 and 7-13.