After a recent twist in Kenya's ongoing digital migration saga in which Standard Media Group, Nation Media Group and Royal Media Services had their analogue frequencies shut down, the country's Communication Authority has now refuted any claims that Kenya has been granted an extension on the migration deadline by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The 17 June 2015 deadline for analogue switch off was set by the ITU in 2006 at the Regional Radio Conference of 2006 (RRC-06) in Geneva and came to effect in June 2007.

The CA said that there were reports in local dailies that purported that the 2015 deadline could be extended for Kenya.

"During the Regional Radio Conference of 2006 (RRC-06), some countries made specific requests for an extension of the deadline to 17th June 2020, but only in the VHF Band (174-230 MHz) since most of their TV stations were operating in the VHF (as opposed to UHF) frequency band," the CA said.

"Other countries not present at the conference, agreed to the extended deadline by virtue of their non-response to the ITU within 90 days of the conference on their intention to select the 17th June, 2015, deadline."

The countries which were granted this special extension include, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Iran, Jordan, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Nigeria, Syria, Sudan, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Yemen, Benin, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, and Somalia.

The CA continued that, "Kenya attended the meeting and did not make any such request. Those countries that did not attend the conference had 90 days to make the request. This did not apply to Kenya."

The only way to make an extension to apply to other countries would include convening a similar convention and having all member represented including Africa, Western and Eastern Europe, the Arab States and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Director General of the CA Francis Wangusi told the local media stations to avoid spreading what he called "lies against the digital migration process" and urged them to join in the effort to move the country from analogue to the digital platform.