Ofcom to Review Sky's DTT Plan

LONDON, February 16: British media regulator Ofcom has said
that it will review BSkyB’s plan to launch a digital terrestrial service, which
the platform announced last week.

Sky’s proposed DTT offering will include sports,
entertainment and news offerings. The new service will make use of existing
capacity that Sky currently uses to broadcast Sky Three, Sky News and Sky
Sports News. As a result, these channels will cease to be available free-to-air
via DTT in advance of the launch of the pay-TV service.

Ofcom will examine the impact on consumers of Sky's proposal
to use MPEG4 compression technology via new set-top boxes in order to increase
the amount of content that can be carried. Ofcom wants to assess the potential
detriment associated with a reduction in the number of channels received by
existing set-top boxes, and the overall effect on consumer confidence in the
digital switchover process.

Ofcom also wants to know “whether any variation to the
channel line-up might unacceptably diminish the appeal of the channels to a
variety of tastes and interests and whether a reduction in the current range of
free-to-air channels would be compensated for by the proposed introduction of
the new pay television channels.”

Further, Ofcom wants to ensure “fair and effective
competition for the benefit of consumers.”