People in the provincial capital of Malaita Province, Auki in Solomon Islands and surrounding communities will now be able to hear the national service of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation on its FM 96.3 frequency on their transistor radios, inside their vehicles and on their mobile phones.
This follows the installation of an FM96.3 transmitter on a Solomon Telekom transmission tower in Auki during the past several days.
At the same time, listeners in Auki and surrounding communities will also hear the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio Australia service on FM 107.
“This great milestone has been achieved as SIBC celebrated its 72nd anniversary of broadcasting in this country early this week. Our listeners in Auki and surrounding communities will now listen to programmes from the national service in Honiara through livestream with much clearer digital audio,” says an excited SIBC Chief Executive Officer, Mr Johnson Honimae.
“This is another step forward in the implementation of the Unity FM service that has been part of the strategy of the Corporation in the past several years. This adds on to the FM96.3 in Honiara and in Gizo in the Western Province.”
Mr Honimae adds, “SIBC would not have achieved the FM service in Auki without the great support of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation through the supply of equipment and engineers supported by SIBC’s own engineers who set up the two FM transmitters in the past several days.”
The project is a great achievement for the two public service broadcasters under a current three-year Memorandum of Understanding. As part of the relationship SIBC and ABC share among other things, technical expertise, including SIBC infrastructure to enable ABC to broadcast in Solomon Islands. ABC and SIBC broadcast technicians work closely together.
ABC International Head Claire M. Gorman said: “We are delighted that our two teams were able to come together to execute this exciting new development in FM transmission, connecting communities across Auki and the Malaita Province. The collaboration between our technical teams encapsulates the true spirit of our longstanding friendship and partnership with SIBC. We congratulate them on the tremendous milestone of their 72nd anniversary and look forward to future opportunities to support one another’s work as public broadcasters.”
Both public service broadcasters also participate in content exchanges in areas such as news and current affairs, sport, music, lifestyle and general interest content. Staff exchanges are also possible under the SIBC-ABC MoU.
SIBC is now in discussions with the Malaita Provincial Government for a piece of land for the establishment of an FM studio in Auki to produce programs focused on Malaita Province. Auki FM96.3 will currently broadcast programs from the SIBC National Service in Honiara.
Listeners to SIBC in Malaita Province can also receive the National Service on AM 1035khz and SW 5020 khz and online: sibconline.com.sb.