Russian public broadcast project stumbles over frequency

A dispute has brewed up in Russia over the possible allocation of frequencies held by the country’s ministry of defence for a new public broadcasting service proposed by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, according to local reports.

The Russian defence ministry currently uses the frequencies for its own Star channel, which broadcasts in 79 regions across the country. According to reports, the ministry has so far failed to comply with requests to prepare for the handover of spectrum used for its service to the new public broadcast service.

Plans for the development of the new public broadcast service have meanwhile reportedly stalled, with no structure or charter yet in place. The service was originally scheduled to begin broadcasting next year.