Singapore’s MICA Rejects SingTel Appeal

SINGAPORE, July 30: A 2006 ruling by the Media Development
Authority of Singapore, which stated that exclusive pay-TV carriage deals are
not anti-competitive, has been upheld by the island nation’s Minister for
Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA), Lee Boon Yang.

Singapore Telecommunications, operator of the country’s
newest pay-TV platform, mio TV, had appealed the MDA ruling, arguing rival
StarHub’s exclusive carriage deals with channels would hurt competition in the
pay-TV sector.

MICA ruled that exclusive agreements “do not substantially
foreclose potential entrants’ access to key content for the pay-TV market in
Singapore.” MICA also stated that SingTel had “not provided sufficient evidence
to show that exclusive carriage agreements have resulted in substantial
foreclosure of Singapore’s pay-TV market.”

The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia
(CASBAA), the organization representing the interests of many of the region’s
pay-TV players, supported MICA’s decision. CEO Simon
Twiston Davies noted: “The right to contract between parties for premium
and exclusive content is part of the bedrock of the global pay-TV industry. The
MICA decision is the way ahead for digital media, as new channels of delivery
open new vistas for consumers.”

He continued: “Exclusive content is an important competitive
tool and Singapore is poised to see similar growth to that experienced in Hong
Kong. Government intervention in contractual arrangements can restrict this
important competitive feature, resulting in less investment and—in the
long run—less consumer choice. We hope to see similar policy decisions to
that taken in Singapore implemented in other Asian countries."