The protracted negotiations between cable television companies and the telecommunications regulator, Ms Etain Doyle, are set to take another turn this week as the industry reacts to draft regulations for digital services published by Ms Doyle late on Christmas Eve.
Under the proposed rules, cable and MMDS providers would exchange their current licences for new 15-year ones, with a guarantee of a local monopoly for the first five years. But cable industry sources said last night that there appeared to be little difference between the latest proposals and ones already rejected by most companies, suggesting that the affair may yet end up in court.
The draft regulations include the following provisions:
Licences are to be for a period of 15 years. These are to be exclusive for the first five years for cable and MMDS technologies, but competition from satellite and terrestrial services is to be permitted.
Rate regulation is to apply to basic services during the period of exclusivity.
Companies are to roll out their digital services in accordance with a set schedule.
There is to be a licence fee of 3.5 per cent of gross revenue from basic and premium services.
There is to be a code of practice for handling complaints, to be implemented by licensees.
In a statement, Ms Doyle said she was inviting the relevant companies to indicate by January 11th their willingness to surrender existing licences in favour of the new regime.
"The new framework takes account of commercial realities, the rights of consumers to a reasonably-priced, high-quality service and the need for Ireland to take early advantage of the digital revolution," she added.
The regulator takes the view that the current licences cover only analogue signals, and that, in order to provide customers with new digital services, companies must receive a new permit from her office. In the latest document, Ms Doyle says she would not authorise digital service for existing licensees unless they accept the principle of competition.
She also indicates that she wishes to bring the many unlicensed signal deflector companies within the regulatory framework, granting them permits, at least on a short-term basis. Many within the industry, however, are angered by this stance and regard it as a retrospective approval of illegal activity and promotion of unfair competition in the future.
"If she is going to licence the illegal deflectors, what would stop you from going up to the top of Three Rock and starting one for Dublin?" one industry source said last night. "If anyone tried to stop you, you could go all the way to the European Court on the grounds that Dublin people were entitled to the same service at the same price as anyone else, and you would win."
Sources close to the regulator said yesterday that one company had already agreed to the new proposals, while another had indicated "conditional acceptance". Industry sources said this may not be significant, as the first company is a very small operator and the second is Cablelink, whose owners, Telecom Eireann and RTE, are selling the company and are not believed to be anxious to guarantee exclusivity to a future competitor.
