Egypt - Apply For a Community Radio License

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. The group of individuals applying for the Community Radio License must be registered with the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) Contact Link.
2. The group applying should write to the Union to seek the approval to purchase a set of application forms that indicates the kind of service and location required.
3. Once the group of individuals receive the approval, they can purchase the set of application forms including a copy of the Egyptian Broadcasting Code and other publications that would provide an insight into broadcasting in Egypt, at the cost of five thousand Egyptian pounds only (EGP 5,000) from any of the Union’s offices across the Egypt.
4. The purchased forms should then be filled and submitted along with the Certificate of Incorporation, Certified copy of the Company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, An Engineering design of systems including feasibility study, a letter of undertaking in accordance with Union specification, A letter of reference from the Company’s Bankers to the office of Director General.
5. The application is processed by the ERTU, recommended through the Honourable Minister of Information, to the Prime Minister and Commander-in-chief of the Arab Republic of Egypt for further consideration.
6. Aside from the above, in order for non-Egypt "media" and its "websites" or non-Egyptian "websites" providing news, media or electronic commercial advertising that are promoting business, services, products or individuals to operate in Egypt, a number of conditions must be satisfied by them including the following:

   • A license from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) is required;
   • A license request, in a specific form, is required to be made to SCMR;
   • A copy of the Articles of Incorporation, trademark registration and the license issued abroad is required to be submitted to SCMR, which copy is required to be legalized by the Egyptian Embassy where such documents are issued;
   • Opening a local representative office and appointment of a local representative for the newspaper is required;
   • A distribution agreement with a local national newspaper is required;
   • A system for blocking any violating content is required;

7. Once the application is approved, the applicant is asked to pay the prescribed fee and sign a license agreement.
8. The applicant must then collect the license from the ERTU within the stipulated processing period once the applicant gets a call from the ERTU for the same.
   

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Required Documents

• Certificate of Incorporation and location of the station.
• Current Tax Clearance Certificate, a letter indicating tax waiver should be obtained and attached to the submission for the Community Radio.
• Certified true copy of Articles and Memorandum of Association.
• 3 passport photographs of authorized representative of the community/ Association.
• Feasibility report of proposed service applied for renewal.
• Completed application should be submitted in triplicate with all necessary documents attached and bound.
• On submission, a non refundable administrative charge which is 2% of the relevant license fee would be paid.
• A copy of Association Constitution.
• All payments are in bank draft

Office Locations & Contacts

Egypt Radio and Television Union (ERTU),
Building Korniche El Nil St.
Maspero, Cairo, Egypt
Tel: +20 2 574 6881.
Email Address: [email protected]
Contact details of ERTU: Contact link

Eligibility

• The radio should be operated by a local community and not an individual to be eligible to apply for the Community Radio License.
  

Fees

• This Community Radio License application fee is EGP 5000.
  

Validity

• Validity of Community Radio License is up to 4 years.
  

Documents to Use

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Sample Documents

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Processing Time

• The process takes around 6 months.
  

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• It is advised that no person shall use or operate any apparatus for the transmission of sound or vision by television, cable, satellite, radio or any other medium of broadcast from anywhere in Egypt except under and in accordance with the provisions of the national Broadcasting Union act.
  
• Note further that obtaining or submitting a license application does not confer on the applicant the right to acquire, operate or use such transmission equipment without the permission of the Egyptian Radio and television Union. Contravening this warning shall lead to the forfeiture of such equipment to the Arab Government of Egypt; and the Commission will not hesitate to confiscate them.
  

Required Information

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e.g.
1. Date of Birth.
2. City or Country of Birth.

Need for the Document

• Radio broadcasting is controlled and operated by the government, through the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU). Radio is the second-most popular mass medium; it has the highest percentage of listeners after television.
  
• UNESCO and AMARC define community radio simply as radio owned and operated by a local community, usually with the support of volunteers and local contributions. Typically, community radio stations are owned by NGOs and are limited in their broadcast coverage to a particular community, language or special audience. It is its community that forms its audience.
  
• Egyptians own over 20 million radios and nearly 8 million televisions. There are 98 television stations and 42 AM and 14 FM radio stations. But while the rest of the world, including many semi-closed regimes, has been tolerant of private and community radio, the Arab world, including Egypt plus some relatively open societies, has persistently rejected any regulation that would grant radio licenses to anyone other than government organizations or the elite business entities that circulate within their orbit.
  
• The programming broadcast by these community stations is also entirely controlled by central governments of Egypt.
  
• The License is required to operate a community radio in Egypt
  

Information which might help

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Other uses of the Document/Certificate

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e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

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Others

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