'Suara Metro' told to change frequency

'Suara Metro' told to change frequency

JAKARTA: Private radio station Suara Metro, which is under the
patronage of the city police, has been told to change its
frequency for the second time by the Indonesian Broadcasting
Committee (KPI). The radio has assumed a bandwidth allocation
that belongs to community radio stations.

"The KPI is acting as the mediator in the dispute between
Suara Metro and the Forum of Jakarta's Community Radio," KPI
commissioner Andrik Purwasito said on Monday.

He added that several members of the forum, mostly radio
stations of universities in the city, had visited the KPI's South
Jakarta office to file their complaints about Suara Metro.

Suara Metro had been using the 107.8 megahertz (MHz) band,
which was specially designed by the then ministry of
communications for community radio stations. Previously, Suara
Metro used 91.0 MHz but it disturbed SP FM at 90.8 MHz and RRI at
91.2 MHz.

When the ministry reorganized the frequency of all radio
stations on Aug. 1, Suara Metro did not receive its bandwidth
allocation as it was not registered. -- JP