Lack of local broadcasters in two thirds of the country deprives thousands of alternative information sources

22 raion centres in Moldova lack local broadcasters, says Valeriu Frumusachi, member of the Broadcasting Coordination Council. According to Frumusachi, there are no local radio stations in 22 raion centres and local TV stations in 15 raion centres. “The election campaign is to begin soon and the inhabitants of these zones will not be able to take advantage of local TV and radio. Thus, these people will not have other sources of information than the public TV and radio stations, and thousands of persons are experiencing this situation”, the representative of the national regulatory authority in the audiovisual said. As of January 2007, 245 licensees were operating in the audiovisual field, of which 44 air radio stations, 38 air TV, and 152 cable TV operators, 10 in the MMDS system and 1 in the field of cable radio broadcasting.