SKY Italia Cleared for DTT Entry

BRUSSELS/MILAN: The European Commission has given the go-ahead to SKY Italia to take part in the auction of five DTT multiplexes in Italy; a ruling that Mediaset plans to appeal at the European Court of Justice.

By granting the platform clearance to bid for DTT spectrum, the Commission has lifted a condition that was put in place in 2003 when it gave its conditional approval to News Corp. to merge Stream and Telepiù to create SKY Italia. "Having regard to the significant changes in the Italian TV market in the last few years, the Commission considered it appropriate to accede to SKY Italia’s request," the European Commission said. However, SKY is limited to bidding for one frequency. If awarded a DTT multiplex—consisting of 1 or 2 HD channels and four to eight SD channels—SKY is restricted to using it solely for free-to-air networks for a five-year period.

“We are obviously very happy with today’s decision," said Tom Mockridge, CEO of SKY Italia. "The Commission has confirmed the Italian TV market has undergone significant changes in the last few years, driven also by SKY Italia’s constant commitment to bringing new competition, innovation and choice to a market historically dominated by two incumbents.  If SKY Italia is successful in its DTT bid, the Italian consumer stands to gain once again, as do potential advertisers.”

Out of the 21 multiplexes reserved for digital TV broadcasting, 16 are already assigned or planned for assignment. Mediaset, RAI and Telecom Italia combined hold 11 multiplexes.

Mediaset says it is "totally disconcerted" by the Commission’s decision. "We believe that the conditions established by the Commission in 2003, which prevented SKY from entering the digital terrestrial TV until 2012 on account of its dominant position in the pay-TV market, remain entirely valid, as, indeed, the market test carried out among all the Italian operators has demonstrated. This decision authorizes a monopolist in satellite and pay television—it should be remembered that SKY has 99.8 percent of satellite pay-TV and 86 percent of pay-TV—to operate in the free-to-air market and gives the company free rein to acquire frequency assets that are already insufficient for existing operators."

Mediaset will appeal the decision to the European Court of Justice.