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Accepted Paper:

Can't Find Nothing on the Radio: Access to the Radio Frequency Spectrum in Nepal  
Michael Wilmore (Bournemouth University) Pawan Prakash Upreti (Equal Access Nepal)

Paper short abstract:

This paper contributes to theorization of the relationship between state and civil society institutions in South Asia through an examination of radio broadcasting regulations in Nepal. It draws on a recent survey by an NGO, Equal Access, which demonstrates inadequacies in the coordination radio frequency allocation to broadcasters.

Paper long abstract:

This paper contributes to theorization of the relationship between state and civil society institutions in South Asia through an examination of radio broadcasting regulations in Nepal. The development of new forms of media and wider media access are often regarded as instrumental to the transformation of social and political identities, especially through the roles media play in the construction of civic institutions, of new relationships with the nation-state, and in the emergence of information as the basis for many common goods and services. This paper argues that the theorization of these transformations must encompass an understanding of the state's role in the regulation of media activities, especially the licensing of broadcasting and publication, if we are to evaluate people's ability to take advantage of the potential that media may offer in bringing about political empowerment within the social landscapes of South Asia. This paper examines these issues in the context of the dramatic increase in independent radio activity in Nepal, which has been lauded as an all too infrequent sign of positive social change in a country beset by chronic poverty and political instability. However, Equal Access, a non-governmental organization producing radio programs focused on social change in Nepal, has recently produced the first survey of broadcast signal reach for independent radio organizations, which indicates that inadequate coordination of the licensing of broadcasters has led to signal interference in many locations due to unregulated competition over the use of the radio frequency spectrum.

Panel P24
Claiming space: the new social landscapes of South Asia
  Session 1