German public television broadcaster Deutsche Welle has signed an agreement offering Burma’s state-owned MRTV retransmission rights on its programs, representatives of the Berlin-based network have confirmed.

Deutsche Welle’s Deputy Director-General Dr Reinhard Hartstein signed the agreement with Deputy Minister for Information Brig-Gen Aung Thein in Rangoon on Friday, The New Light of Myanmar reported over the weekend.

Claims by the state-run publication that the deal would see an exchange of programming between both parties was denied by the German Embassy in Rangoon, which said the relationship would be strictly “one-way.”

Hartstein was traveling back to Bonn, Germany on Monday and was therefore unavailable for comment.

The deal means that Burma’s flagship channel can use Deutsche Welle programs at no charge and subject to a maximum 24-hour retransmission delay.

Concerned that the junta might manipulate its coverage, the German network included in the agreement a clause terminating the rights if transmissions are deemed to be “manipulated.” The German Charge d’Affaires in Rangoon, Dirk Augustin, said Deutsche Welle has asked the embassy “to keep an eye” on MRTV’s usage of its service.

“In general, though, I don’t see a problem at the moment just with providing the [Burmese] people with some credible information,” Augustin said.

The German broadcaster has a policy of providing its coverage at no cost to countries “where it is known that the local TV programs do not satisfy the information needs of the population,” Augustin said.

Deutsche Welle’s service is already available in Burma but only by satellite, which, at a cost of up to US $300, is prohibitively expensive for most Burmese. MRTV, however, is available to anyone with a television set at no extra charge.

Friday’s signing ceremony ends months of negotiations, which began in February, by Deutsche Welle and its representative agents in the region. An agent that made the initial trip to Rangoon for discussions with the Ministry of Information, Susanne Merz, said Minister Kyaw Hsan was supportive from the very beginning but that the cabinet took months to approve the decision.

Merz and Augustin confirmed there have also been preliminary discussions between Deutsche Welle and MRTV on the possibility of journalism training, although no agreement has been reached yet.