Spain

[ES] New Developments Related to Digital Terrestrial TV

IRIS 1999-7:1/22

Alberto Pérez Gómez

Entidad publica empresarial RED.ES

Two major developments related to Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV) have recently taken place in Spain:

- Firstly, the government has awarded a concession for the provision of digital terrestrial TV at national level. The concession has been granted to Onda Digital, whose main shareholder, with a 49% stake, is Retevisión, the second Spanish telecom operator, and also owner of the network currently used for the transmission of terrestrial TV signals and of stakes in several cable companies. Other shareholders of Onda Digital are the British media group Carlton (which participates in the British DTTV operator On Digital), the Spanish regional cable operator Euskaltel, the Spanish publishing group Planeta and several Spanish banks.

Onda Digital plans to reach 77% of the population before the end of the year. To achieve this goal, it intends to invest 110.000 million pesetas (approx. 660 million Euros). It will offer 14 digital television programme services and five radio programmes, and the subscription fee will be approx. 2.000 pesetas (12 Euros).

- Secondly, the government of the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid has invited tenders for the grant of two new concessions for the provision public service regional DTTV. The successful companies, which will be the first private regional broadcasters in Spain, will each manage a free-to-air digital television programme service. The regional government of the Autonomous Community of Madrid must grant the licenses before October 1999. It is expected that the governments of other Comunidades Autónomas will invite tenders soon. The regional governments were empowered to grant this kind of licenses by the forty-fourth Additional Provision of the national Law 66/1997.