GNCC Puts Off Maestro TV Satellite Broadcast License Discussion

Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) said session scheduled for June 5 would not be held citing “absence of quorum.”

Among other things, GNCC was also expected to discuss at the June 5 session Tbilisi-based Maestro TV’s request for issuing satellite broadcast license.

GNCC said in a statement on June 5 that the date for holding the session would be announced later.

Maestro TV, which goes out on cable in Tbilisi, Batumi, Telavi and Zestaponi, wants to expend area of coverage through obtaining satellite broadcast license after which the television station’s single will be available for those having satellite dishes.

Maestro TV was also available in Rustavi, a city close to Tbilisi, until the local cable network stopped its transmission last week. Maestro TV has claimed the authorities’ pressure on the local cable television provider company behind the decision.

Few hundred opposition activists and supporters held a protest rally in Rustavi on June 4 demanding restoration of transmission of the Maestro TV’s broadcasting in the city. At the rally Mamuka Glonti, owner of the television station, called on Rustavi residents not to pay a fee to the local cable network, because, he said, the company was violating its clients’ rights.

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