International broadcasters will have to apply to broadcast and do coverage of the state funeral of Nelson Mandela, warns South Africa's broadcasting regulator.
As the country and the world mourns the passing of Nelson Mandela, international broadcasters descending on South Africa will have to apply for permission for full coverage of the funeral, says the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).
"All broadcasters must ensure that they have the requisite radio frequency spectrum and type-approval licences when covering the upcoming state funeral of Nelson Mandela," says Icasa.
"For the coverage of international special events, broadcasters usually bring communications equipment such as satellite news gathering (SNG) to relay their broadcasts to their respective international audiences."
"The SNG's require a radio frequency spectrum licence to be allocated for this purpose and some video cameras with microphones and a wireless capability needs type-approval to ensure that there are no reported cases of interference with licensed services."
Icasa warns that it will be doing inspections.
"In covering the funeral of Nelson Mandela, all international broadcasters will have to go through this standard licensing process for compliance purpsoses and when a radio frequency spectrum licence is issued, the licensee is obliged to show it to Icasa inspectors as they continue to do routine monitoring and compliance duties," says the broadcasting regulator.
