BHRT Refused to Participate: Edin Forto Ordered RTRs and Banja Luka to Control Digital Signal in Canton Sarajevo!

(Patria) - BiH Minister of Transport and Communications Edin Forto signed a decision according to which the Majevica digital area will be supplied by RTRs (Banja Luka) instead of BHRT (Sarajevo), Istraga.ba has learned. On that...

In this way, Forto handed over the digital area, which includes the Tuzla and Posavina cantons and Brčko District, to Radio-Television of Republika Srpska.

BHRT management, Istraga has learned, refused to accept Forto's decision, which is why transmitters located within this digital region on the territory of the Federation of BiH were not put into operation.

At the same time, RTRs activated all transmitters from the Majevica digital region located in the territory of Republika Srpska. Here's what it's all about.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into nine digital areas named after the largest relay stations from before the war. The digital signal is broadcast via MUX A and MUX D.



Each of these areas has its own digital signal supply center. The main supply centers are Sarajevo, Mostar, and Banja Luka. However, both Mostar and Sarajevo are formally and substantively controlled by BHRT, while the Banja Luka supply center is under the control of Radio-Television of Republika Srpska.

It is precisely to the Banja Luka center, i.e., RTRs, that Forto decided to entrust the supply of the digital area containing the most populous canton in the Federation of BiH.

"The Ministry, in its capacity as the contracting authority for the Public RTV Services Digitization Project in BiH, addressed the Agency (RAK), which, after conducting an expert analysis, gave its consent for the use of RF spectrum and test broadcasting, which shows that the supply of digital areas from certain Headends (central signal distribution points) is as follows:
‣ from Headend Sarajevo - 1. Bjelašnica, 2. Vlašić, 3. Trovrh;
‣ from Headend Mostar - 1. Velež, 2. Tušnica, 3. Plješevica;
‣ from Headend Banja Luka - 1. Kozara, 2. Majevica, 3. Leotar.

Since the project implementation deadline has already been extended, the Ministry hereby urges all holders of specific activities to take all necessary actions to realize the project within the defined deadline," Minister Forto wrote in his letter dated August 8, 2025.




BHRT, as Istraga has learned, rejected Forto's proposal, but RTRs immediately began distributing channels.

To make matters worse, Minister Forto prepared this act in agreement with the Communications Regulatory Agency (RAK), headed by Draško Milinović, an SNSD official and long-time director of RTRs.

However, according to the Decision on the Method of Using Multiplex A for Terrestrial Digital Television Broadcasting in Bosnia and Herzegovina, adopted by the RAK Council in 2015, the exclusive authority for determining the supply centers of digital areas lies with the Management Board of the Public RTV System, which consists of all members of the management boards of BHRT, RTRs, and FTV.



"Public radio-television services acquire the right and obligation for digital terrestrial broadcasting of their television programs throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina through the joint construction and use of synchronous networks in digital areas (allotments) according to the technical conditions prescribed in Appendix 1, and program conditions prescribed in Appendix 2, which are an integral part of this decision:

III
The joint construction and use of synchronous networks, within MUX A, shall be carried out exclusively based on the principle of efficient use of radio spectrum, rational and efficient use of existing capacities, and investment in new infrastructure.

IV
Public radio-television services shall submit harmonized technical requirements for digital terrestrial program broadcasting for each element of the synchronous network exclusively allocated for simultaneous broadcasting of television programs of public radio-television services listed in point 1 of this decision.

V
Public RTV services shall submit mutually harmonized requests to the Agency for new own programs they wish to provide in MUX A.

VI
The method of harmonization and submission of requests from points IV and V shall be determined by the Management Board of the Public Radio-Television System of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which shall inform the Agency in writing within eight days," reads the 2015 Decision.

Therefore, according to Article VI, the exclusive authority for the broadcasting method belongs to the Management Board of the Public RTV System.

Minister Forto, however, did not read these documents and signed a document according to which the most populous canton in the Federation will be supplied with a digital signal via RTRs.