The Communication Authority of Kenya has licensed at least 30 new community radio stations between December 2021 and March 2022.
In a report released on Friday, Ezra Chiloba- led Authority said as of December 2021, there were 28 community radio stations and the number increased to 58 in March this year.
“The Authority in its mandate to promote and facilitate the development of a diverse range of broadcasting services in Kenya, while maintaining a competitive broadcasting market, issues licenses to service providers on a continuous basis,” reads the report.
The statistics are included in the Communications Authority of Kenya quarterly report for the financial year 2021/2022.
Also, Commercial Fm radio stations also recorded an increase from 122 in December last year to 154 in March 2022.
The numbers record significant growth compared to the CA quarterly report for December 2018-2019, which had 131 commercial radio stations and 42 community radio stations in Kenya.
The radio industry is comprised of a wide range of stations in terms of coverage areas and in the type of audience they target.
In Kenya, radio stations are classified into public broadcasting services, private or commercial broadcasting services, community broadcasting services and signal distribution.
To promote the growth of radio in Kenya, the CA has significantly simplified the process of registering radio stations.
To open a community radio station one requires a Sh1,000 registration fee and an initial licence fee of Sh5,000, while to set up a public station (non-commercial) one needs a Sh2,500 registration fee and an initial fee of Sh5,000.
Last year December, CA initiated the cancellation of licence offers to listed 60 radio broadcasters following their failure to comply with the licence offer conditions.
Some 24 commercial and community radio broadcasting stations also were at risk of being pulled off the air after failing to clear outstanding regulatory fees among others.
