The National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC) first asked Star FM, the Unity Labour Party’s (ULP) radio station, to provide a certificate of status from the Commercial and Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) when the ULP administration was still in office.
This is based on a “chronology of events” NTRC Director Apollo Knights presented in a press release on Wednesday, which appears to directly contradict comments by former East St. George MP Camillo Gonsalves on Monday.
Gonsalves described the situation as an attempt by the New Democratic Party (NDP) administration, elected in November, to take the station off the air.
However, the NTRC’s timeline suggests it asked Star FM to produce the documents while Gonsalves was minister of information and responsible for the NTRC.
Although the New Democratic Party (NDP) was elected to office in November 2025, the NTRC commissioners the ULP had appointed to the NTRC board remained in office until Dec. 31, 2025.
During that time, the commissioners asked Star FM to submit an updated certificate of status because the one it submitted was not dated within the requested six-month timeframe.
Additionally, on Feb. 12, 2026, Star FM provided the NTRC with a certificate of status that showed that the radio station was not in good standing with CIPO, the NTRC’s timeline shows.
The matter became public after an Oct. 8, 2026 letter Knights wrote to Julian Francis, secretary of Star Broadcasting Corp Ltd., the company that owns Star FM, outlining interactions between the NRTC and Star FM regarding its licence was leaked.
“Given the fact that your company does not currently have a valid FM Radio Broadcast Licence and Frequency Authorisation, your company is therefore required to cease transmitting on 98.3MHz and 104.7MHz frequencies immediately until such time as your company obtains the required FM Radio Broadcast Licence and Frequency Authorisation from the Minister responsible for Telecommunications,” Knights said in the letter.
On Monday, Gonsalves, speaking on the same radio station, argued that the NTRC’s handling of Star FM’s licence renewal was unlawful and threatened freedom of expression.
Gonsalves, a lawyer, said he had advised his party to sue, adding that he was confident that the court would rule in Star FM’s favour.
His comments came on the same day that Telecommunications Minister Phillip Jackson described the NTRC’s correspondence with Star FM as routine regulatory business, rejecting claims that authorities were trying to take the station off the air.
“It’s nothing else,” he said. “It’s just a … correspondence between a regulator and an entity that it regulates and fulfilling its duty,” Jackson said on New Times, the ruling New Democratic Party’s programme on NICE Radio.
The NRTC said that Star FM was written to on Feb. 14, 2025, to renew its radio broadcast licence and frequency authorisation, which included a request for a certificate of status from CIPO.
“FM Radio Broadcast Licences and Frequency Authorisations are granted for five-year periods. By Law, all licensees wishing to renew their Radio Broadcast Licences are required to do so one year before their licences expire,” Knights said.
It noted that Star FM’s previous licence and frequency authorisation were granted on April 15, 2021 and were due to expire on April 14, 2026.
Knights said that follow-up letters were sent to Star FM on May 29 and Oct. 31, 2025 — when the ULP was still in office.
On Nov. 13, 2025, Star FM submitted applications to renew its FM radio broadcasting licence and frequency authorisation.
Then, on Nov. 21, 2025, the NTRC responded to Star FM, requesting an updated certificate of status because it was not dated within the requested six-month timeframe.
Knights said that on Jan. 20, 2026, the NTRC sent Star FM a follow-up letter to its Nov. 21, 2025 letter.
On Feb. 12, 2026, Star FM provided documents, including the updated certificate of status whereby the company was not in good standing with CIPO.
On March 20, 2026, the NTRC wrote to Star FM to resolve issues with CIPO and provide a certificate of good standing, Knights said.
On April 13, May 6, and June 3, 2026, the NTRC sent follow-up letters to its March 20, 2026 letter.
The radio station’s FM radio broadcast licence and frequency authorisation for Star FM expired on April 14, 2026, meaning that the station has been broadcasting illegally since then.
Star FM requested extensions to submit the certificate of good standing on May 6, July 21, Sept. 10, and Oct. 6, 2026 (submitted by legal representative)
as it sought to resolve the outstanding matters with CIPO.
“A Certificate of Good Standing from CIPO is requested from all licensees renewing a licence, despite their ownership or affiliation. As Star FM did not have a good standing, its application was placed on hold until it resolved all necessary issues with CIPO,” Knights said.
He said that the NRTC allowed Star FM to operate for nearly six months after its FM radio broadcast licence and frequency authorisation expired.
“The Commission gave many extensions to Star FM during the six-month period to regularise its status with CIPO,” Knights said, adding, “Star FM can resume its FM broadcasting once the Minister grants a new FM Radio Broadcast Licence and Frequency Authorisation.”
Meanwhile, in his comments on Monday, Jackson said Star FM’s licence expired in April and that the station was alerted to the issue early in 2025 and repeatedly reminded.
He characterised the letter that had circulated publicly as “the latest in a number of correspondences” between the regulator and the broadcaster.
“It seems as it’s a big issue because … it’s a political radio station,” he said, adding that broadcasting entities should be treated consistently under the law.
Jackson denied that the correspondence was part of an effort to silence Star FM.
“Some people may say it’s an attempt to take Star … off the air. Nothing of the sort,” he said.
He described the NTRC’s work as that of “competent professionals,” and said he was confident Star FM would respond and comply with what was required.
However, Gonsalves offered a different account of the renewal process, saying Star FM applied in November 2025, before its licence was due to expire in April or May 2026, and paid the required fees and submitted the required documents.
He said the NTRC later requested additional corporate records, including material dating back many years, and that the station supplied documents even when, in his view, the law did not require them.
Gonsalves said the regulator first requested a “certificate of status”, then sought a “certificate of good standing”.
He argued that the NTRC was applying requirements beyond those set out in the legislation and licence conditions.
“We have sent them everything they have asked, even things that they are not legally supposed to ask for,” he said.
Jackson and Gonsalves’ accounts also differed over the station’s status while its renewal was pending.
Jackson said Star FM had been operating “illegally” for months after the licence expired.
Gonsalves, by contrast, said the NTRC’s established practice had been to allow stations to continue broadcasting while a renewal application was pending — even if processing extended beyond the licence-expiry date.
He said Star continued transmitting while trying to satisfy the regulator’s requests.
Gonsalves said the station then received a letter instructing it to cease transmission, which he characterised as a “cease and desist” notice.
He argued that the NTRC could not lawfully take that step without first opening an investigation, notifying the station of the reasons, and establishing that continued broadcasting posed serious harm.
The former minister further contended that only the telecommunications minister could refuse to renew a licence, following the process set out in law.
Jackson described the licensing framework differently: he said the minister issues a broadcast licence after an application and technical review by the NTRC.
He maintained that the regulator was performing its statutory role and that the exchange should not be read as political action.
Gonsalves also raised concerns about possible bias. He pointed to NTRC chair Benjamin Exeter’s prior political involvement as an NDP candidate in 2015 and 2020 and said Star FM had criticised and mocked him during his candidacy.
Gonsalves said he was not asserting that bias had been proven, but argued that the circumstances warranted scrutiny.
Both Jackson and Gonsalves praised the NTRC’s leadership under Knights.
Jackson, however, said he had not been involved in every exchange between the regulator and the station, adding that he became aware of the matter late, when its potential political implications arose.
Gonsalves urged the parties to resolve the dispute without escalating it into a legal battle.
“Let us just deal with this thing like a mature professional regulatory body,” he said, warning that a prolonged confrontation could damage the country’s reputation and raise wider concerns about press freedom.
He also appealed to the NTRC to “lower the temperature” and resolve the matter.