Updated announcement: Dabanga Sudan satellite frequency change to 11.354 GHz

An unexpected frequency change of the Radio Dabanga Sudan satellite channel on Sunday 18 February caused Dabanga Sudan to go dark for several hours. It has resumed broadcast on the new frequency 11.354 GHz (Eutelsat).

Without prior notice, the Egyptian satellite service company Nilesat cancelled the uplink of the 24/7 Dabanga Sudan satellite programme to its channel on Eutelsat – a satellite service on the same position – at 4pm on Sunday. The channel was silenced immediately.

Neither Radio Dabanga nor its service management system received a warning. System managers informed Radio Dabanga that the speed in which the cancellation was made into effect was unprecedented.

The sudden cancellation resulted in the Dabanga satellite channel going dark until the channel went on-air on the new frequency at 1pm Sudanese time (GMT+2). This has required our viewers to re-tune their satellite receiver to the new frequency on Eutelsat or Nilesat. There is no change in the satellite channel or position which means that satellite dishes do not have to be adjusted.

Radio Dabanga regrets the unexpected change of the frequency and advises viewers to re-tune their satellite receiver to 11354 MHz on the same channel. 

Complaints against Dabanga

In May 2015, the Arab Satellite Communication Organization (Arabsat) complied to an official complaint from Sudan’s Ministry of Information that resulted in the removal of the Dabanga Sudan channel from Arabsat Broadcast Services. Opposition members, journalists’ networks and associations of displaced people in Darfur condemned the removal.

Journalist Faisal El Bagir, the general coordinator for the Sudanese Journalist Network for Human Rights (JAHR), claimed that the Arab League was biased towards the Sudanese government, which campaigns against Radio Dabanga. “As [it is] an independent and credible medium in enlightenning and informing the public opinion about what is going on around them”.

At the time of writing this announcement, a motive for the cancellation of the Nilesat frequency is not known.

Related:

Dabanga Sudan channel to Eutelsat from Arabsat (May 29, 2015)