Mindel DeLaTorre, Chief of the International Bureau of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has returned from a mission to Haiti which was at the request of the Haitian telecommunications regulator, Conatel, and in coordination with USAID which is leading the US Government efforts in Haiti. In the official FCC blog, she reports on the media situation in Port-au-Prince as of last week:
Only six of 18 TV licensees were on the air, and their operations were intermittent. The two licensed AM radio stations were off the air because they couldn’t afford the fuel needed to run the generators that would power their transmitters. Of the 40 licensed FM stations, 30 were on the air, with a few able to operate between 12-16 hours per day. Damaged facilities and equipment, limited fuel and lack of advertising revenue are really hurting the broadcasters in Haiti now.
