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[HCDX] BBC Monitoring confirms jamming to Ethiopia
BBC Monitoring confirms jamming to Ethiopia
http://www.biddho.com/content/view/501/29/lang,english/
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
BBC Monitoring (BBCM) can confirm that two major Western broadcasters
are suffering consistent jamming of their transmissions to Ethiopia. Jamming
is deliberate interference aimed at preventing the target broadcast from
being heard. The standard technique is to transmit an irritating noise or
continuous music on the same channel as the target.
In the latest media development to hit the Horn of Africa, the scene of
numerous "radio wars" over the past quarter-century, shortwave broadcasts
from Washington-based Voice of America (VOA) and Germany´s Deutsche
Welle (DW) are now being jammed.
In both cases, the target of the jamming is radio programmes in Amharic,
the lingua franca and main official language of Ethiopia. VOA is also
suffering jamming of another of its regional language services. The
deliberate interference appears to have started in the first half of this month,
possibly on or around 12 November.
VOA and Cologne-based DW are funded by the US and German
governments to broadcast radio and TV programmes to foreign audiences.
The moves against the VOA and DW follow intensification by Ethiopia of its
jamming of broadcasts from neighbouring Eritrea. The jamming of Eritrean
state radio, the latest episode of which began in summer 2007, was stepped
up in late September and early October, BBCM observed at the time.
Details of the jammed broadcasts
The VOA´s daily one-hour (1800-1900 gmt) service in Amharic is now being
jammed. According to the opposition website Ethiopian Review -
www.ethiopianreview.com - the jamming of VOA began on 12 November.
BBCM observations have confirmed the presence of jamming signals on at
least three of the five frequencies used by the VOA. The direction whence
the jamming originates (established by the use of directional aerials) is
consistent with the signals being transmitted from within Ethiopia.
VOA currently uses 9320, 9860, 11675, 11905 and 13870 kHz for its
Amharic service. The service is not streamed on the Internet, but audio of
recent broadcasts is available at www.voanews.com/horn.
On 19 November, VOA´s service in another major Ethiopian language,
Oromo, was also observed to be jammed. VOA´s Oromo service broadcasts
at 1730-1800 gmt, immediately before the Amharic transmission and on the
same frequencies.
DW´s daily one-hour (1400-1500 gmt) service in Amharic is also being
jammed. Noise interference has been observed on two of DW´s shortwave
frequencies (11645 and 15640 kHz). DW recently added a third frequency
(15660 kHz). At the start of its Amharic programme on 19 November it
announced that this had been done in response to the jamming. The lead
item in the news bulletin that followed was that the Ethiopian government
had conducted air raids on villages in the Ogaden region in the southeast of
the country. DW maintains a multimedia website for its Amharic service at
www2.dw-world.de/amharic.
Opposition broadcasts
Ethiopia has also jammed various private opposition radio broadcasts. The
country has been targeted for many years by such operators, which hire
airtime (generally an hour a day or on certain days of the week) from
commercial shortwave transmission facilities, including those based in
Germany and the former Soviet Union. The number and identity of such
broadcasts, and their schedules, often varies, depending on the availability
of funds to hire shortwave airtime. Eritrea is also targeted by private
opposition shortwave stations.
(Source: BBC Monitoring research 16-19 Nov 07/R Netherlands media
Network Weblog)
Zacharias Liangas , Thessaloniki Greece
email: greekdx_@xxxxxxxxxx web: www.geocities.com/zliangas
Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75 , Lowe HF150 , Degen 1102-3,Tecsun PL200 ,
Chibo C300/c979, Yupi 7000 ,
Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop
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