{"id":11449,"date":"2014-11-19T19:45:05","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T23:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=11449"},"modified":"2014-11-19T19:45:05","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T23:45:05","slug":"bbc-relay-station-handed-back-to-seychelles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/bbc-relay-station-handed-back-to-seychelles\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC Relay Station handed back to Seychelles"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"BBC<\/a>

BBC Seychelles Relay Station (Photo: Vijay.sc)<\/p><\/div>\n

(Source: Seychelles News Agency<\/a> via Andy Sennitt)<\/p>\n

Tuesday November 18 marked the closure of an iconic chapter of Seychelles\u2019 history, signalling the end of an era when information was much more difficult to come by. With much of Africa joining the internet and mobile phone revolution, the times of trying to glean information about happenings in the rest of the world on a crackly AM radio station have now passed by.<\/p>\n

Over 25 years after its establishment, the site of the BBC\u2019s former Indian Ocean Relay Station (IORS), located at Grand Anse, on the western side of the largest inhabited island in the archipelago, was handed back to the government of Seychelles by the country\u2019s British High Commissioner, Lindsay Skoll.<\/p>\n

The station transmitted BBC World Service programmes since 1988 via shortwave to listeners across East Africa in a range of languages, including the BBC’s English-language output for Africa as well as programmes in Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Somali and French.<\/p>\n

In November 2013, the BBC announced its intention to cease all its shortwave transmission services from Seychelles due to a gradual and irreversible fall in demand for shortwave radio services, and on March 29 this year, the BBC IORS retransmission services from Seychelles were officially switched off. BBC World Service broadcasts in East Africa are still available via the internet and also via various other localised frequencies.
\nThe handing over of the site to the Ministry of Land Use and Housing (MLUH) also included the station\u2019s buildings and equipment, all of which are still in working order. The site is spread over a 32,000 square metre property, occupied under a lease dating back to March 27, 1985.<\/p>\n

[…]The station is equipped with 33KV high-voltage equipment and transformers which will now go into the possession of the Public Utilities Corporation, while the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) will take over three of the BBC\u2019s four steel communications towers and the annex building.<\/p>\n

The SCAA will use the towers to strengthen its air communication and surveillance capabilities and the annex building will be used to house a new high-frequency aviation communications radio system to help control air traffic coming in from the west of the island.<\/p>\n

The fourth steel tower will be allocated to the local telecommunications company Cable and Wireless for mobile based telecommunications.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full article on the Seychelles News Agency’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Source: Seychelles News Agency via Andy Sennitt) Tuesday November 18 marked the closure of an iconic chapter of Seychelles\u2019 history, signalling the end of an era when information was much more difficult to come by. With much of Africa joining the internet and mobile phone revolution, the times of trying to glean information about happenings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,960,3,43],"tags":[104,2347,327,2346],"class_list":["post-11449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-international-broadcasting","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-bbc","tag-bbc-seychelles-relay-closure","tag-bbc-world-service","tag-bbc-world-service-seychelles-relay"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-2YF","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7974,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/bbc-announces-closure-of-seychelles-relay-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":11449,"position":0},"title":"BBC announces closure of Seychelles relay station","author":"Thomas","date":"November 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: BBC Media Centre\u00a0via Rob Wagner) The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced today that the Indian Ocean Relay Station (IORS) transmitter site at Grand Anse, Mah\u00e9, will cease all shortwave transmissions on 29 March 2014. The site was established in 1988 and has been in continuous service since then, relaying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"BBC Seychelles Relay Station (Photo: Vijay.sc)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/BBC-Seychelles.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/BBC-Seychelles.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/BBC-Seychelles.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7978,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/11\/jonathan-marks-remembers-the-opening-of-the-bbc-seychelles-relay-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":11449,"position":1},"title":"Jonathan Marks remembers the opening of the BBC Seychelles relay site","author":"Thomas","date":"November 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In response to the announcement of the closure of the BBC Seychelles relay, Jonathan Marks writes: \"You might like to revisit this old Media Network when we spoke about the opening of the Seychelles site. http:\/\/jonathanmarks.libsyn.com\/mn-29-09-1988-blackpool-offshore-radio-\" Jonathan, I'm glad you shared this recording as it's also chock-full of radio nostalgia:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jonathan Marks","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/JonathanMarks1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":57213,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/bbc-kranji-shortwave-relay-station-to-close-july-16-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":11449,"position":2},"title":"BBC Kranji shortwave relay station to close July 16, 2023","author":"Thomas","date":"July 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors who have reached out about a report on AWR Wavescan regarding the closure of the BBC Kranji relay station in Singapore. I contacted AWR Wavescan host, Jeff White at WRMI, and asked for any details he might have since I could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/QSL-BBC-Kranji-1-1-1024x677.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/QSL-BBC-Kranji-1-1-1024x677.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/QSL-BBC-Kranji-1-1-1024x677.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6108,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/allens-thoughts-as-bbc-cyprus-relay-station-closes-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":11449,"position":3},"title":"Allen’s thoughts as BBC Cyprus relay station closes today","author":"Thomas","date":"March 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post reader, Allen, writes: BBC's Cyprus relay station is being closed down today after more than 50 years of service. The BBC currently uses the station to broadcast its Arabic radio service to the Arab world on short wave. The BBC will still incur the cost of making its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bbc_arabic","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/bbc_arabic.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20848,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/august-28-bbc-atlantic-relay-station-special-drm-broadcasts\/","url_meta":{"origin":11449,"position":4},"title":"August 28: BBC Atlantic Relay station special DRM broadcasts","author":"Thomas","date":"August 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: DRM Consortium) DRM will be part of a big anniversary on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean. On 28th of August at 1155 GMT Babcock International will ensure a special BBC digital transmission on 21715 kHz from the BBC Atlantic Relay station, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","block_context":{"text":"Current Events","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/current-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"RNZI-DRM-2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/RNZI-DRM-2-e1472222611639.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/RNZI-DRM-2-e1472222611639.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/RNZI-DRM-2-e1472222611639.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63280,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/feba-then-and-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":11449,"position":5},"title":"FEBA, Then and Now","author":"Thomas","date":"June 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Greenall, who writes: It seems that fewer shortwave broadcasters utilize an interval signal these days. However, of the ones that do, at least a couple seem to have stood the test of time, going back over 50 years. The bellbird from Radio New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Zenith-Transoceanic-R-7000-2-angle-e1540388449299.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Zenith-Transoceanic-R-7000-2-angle-e1540388449299.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Zenith-Transoceanic-R-7000-2-angle-e1540388449299.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Zenith-Transoceanic-R-7000-2-angle-e1540388449299.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11449\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}