Court hearing postponed to Nov 28th 2006

The learned authorities at the Appeals Court have postponed the court case to November 28th it seems. We are however unable to obtain confirmation about this postponement. This is now becoming the style of these court hearings.

We are also unable to ascertain the reason for the postponement too. Please update us if any of you out there have more information.

Sri Lanka set a landmark by sliding down the press freedom ratings yesterday. A recent report on Lanka Business On Line says that Pay Tv piracy is on the rise in Asia and very soon looks like Sri Lanka will hold the number one spot when people are being denied the right to entertainment and they begin looking for alternative means either legally or illegally. Please refer the TV Radio Sri Lanka blog for further details on this.

Please keep us updated on the latest regarding LBN as the days progress.

LBN Appeals Court hearing today (Oct 25th)

Sorry for the late post but according to reports received initially LBN should be having their court hearing today. We do not know the time of the hearing.

We have not got official communication from LBN regarding the result of their previous even though we contacted them by email several times.

At the moment we get unconfirmed reports that LBN has not been given the media license still and we are not sure whether they got the TRC license too.

We request our fellow bloggers to keep us updated on the latest news regarding LBN as the day progresses.

New twist in LBN Case

The LBN Court Case has now taken a new twist and it seems that at the last hearing the Media Ministry has said that they will not allow LBN to operate without the media license, according to a news item in the Daily News today (17th Oct - Please refer post below). But LBN have said that they have the media license. Now if LBN has the media license then doesn't the Media Ministry know to whom they have issued licenses. This is seen by many as an attempt by the authorities and their henchmen to drag this case further.

Mr. President the authorities do not seem to be following any directives issued by you. Sir, please relieve these incompetent people of their duties and replace them with more efficient people.

We have not received any official communication from LBN regarding the last hearing and we hope that LBN will be able to clarify these new issues that are now cropping up.

Please keep us updated on the latest news regarding LBN as the days progress.

TRC says it could grant licence to LBN - Daily News 17th October 2006

COLOMBO: The Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) on Friday informed the Court of Appeal that it could grant Lanka Broad Band Network, a licence to operate a Satellite Television network.

The Bench comprised Justices K. Sripavan and Eric Basnayake.

President's Counsel Palitha Kumarasinghe for the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) informed the Court that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had approved its recommendation to grant the petitioner Lanka Broad Band Network Ltd. (LBN) to operate Satellite Television Network. The counsel also submitted that the Defence Ministry had given the security clearance to the petitioner.

However, President's Counsel D. S. Wijesinghe for Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa submitted that the petitioner still needed to obtain a media licence under the Rupavahini Corporation Act before commencing their operation.

However, the Counsel Sanjeewa Jayawardane for petitioner submitted that they were already in possesion of a media licence.

Petitioner LBN stated that the CID had sealed off its satellite TV transmission system illegally and unlawfully affecting a clientele of around 10,000. The petitioner sought to quash the alleged unlawful acts of the CID.

Sanjeewa Jayawardane appeared for the petitioner.

Additional Solicitor General Sathya Hettige PC appeared for the CID.

The case will be mentioned on October 25.

By Wasantha Ramanayake

LBN Court Case Postponed but there is good news

The LBN Appeals Court Case has been postponed to October 25th but it seems that the license will be issued either today evening or on Monday. However we have not received confirmation from LBN regarding this matter.

It seems that once they receive the license they will have to forward it to the Magistrate's Court in order to resume operations.

However none of this information is confirmed and we are awaiting the confirmation from LBN. We would like to request all of our fellow bloggers to keep us updated on the latest regarding LBN as the days progress.

We hope that everything will be sorted out soon and LBN is back in action.

LBN Appeals Court Case today

The LBN Appeals Court Case will be held today (Oct 13th). We are expecting the license to be granted today and for LBN to resume operations. We hope that authorities will grant the required licenses and allow LBN to operate from today.

Please update us on the time of the hearing as well as the result of the hearing as the day progresses.

LBN Appeals Court case tomorrow

LBN will be having their Appeals Court hearing tomorrow (Oct 13th). According to LBN this has to be the final date. We have no reports on the time of the hearing as yet.

We sincerely hope that this will end tomorrow without any further postponement.

Please keep us updated on the time of tomorrow's hearing and any developments regarding LBN.

Confirmation from LBN

We have received confirmation from LBN regarding the postponement of their Appeals Court Case to October 13th.

"The TRC has not obtained the presidents signature and requested for one more week to do so. Court granted time until 13^th October noting that this is the “FINAL” date for a settlement. - Shirantha Herath"

Please keep us updated on the latest news regarding LBN as the days progress.

LBN Appeals Court case postponed to Oct 13th

It looks like the LBN Court Case has been postponed to Oct 13th. The President asked the TRC to issue licenses immediately for the cable tv operators who have obtained MoD approval but looks like there is another meaning for the word "immediately" in Sri Lanka.

We have not got confirmation from LBN regarding this postponement but all reports indicate it. So it looks like a wait of more than a week.

Please keep us updated on the latest developments regarding LBN as the days progress. By the way is LBN still carrying out test transmissions on Thursdays?

LBN Appeals Court hearing today (Oct 3rd)

LBN will be having its appeals court hearing today. It is widely expected that the license will be issued since there was a Presidential directive asking the TRC to issue the license immediately to operators who have been approved by the MoD.

Therefore LBN should be okay today. However this is Sri Lanka, so let's wait and see. Please keep us updated on the latest news about the court hearing as the day progresses and please update us on the time of the hearing.

TRC directed to issue cable licenses - Daily News Oct 3rd 2006

LBN Appeals Court Case tomorrow (3rd Oct)

The wait must have seemed like eternity for this hearing. As mentioned in our previous posting, the LBN license had to be signed by the President. Lets just hope that no silly excuses are given tomorrow at the hearing.

LBN customers will no doubt be looking forward for tomorrow to dawn on them. Not only the customers but also the management and staff too.

All the best to the management and legal team of LBN for the hearing. From tomorrow we want LBN back in action.