Italy

[IT] New Regulation Governing Satellite Service Concessions

IRIS 2001-6:1/31

Marina Benassi

Attorney at law

The Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (Italian Communications Authority) has, after careful deliberation, and as published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica (Official Journal of Italy) of 3 May 2001, adopted a list of all the official dispositions aiming to regulate the concession of authorisation and licences for satellite services. The aim of the document is to set out a whole list of obligations and conditions which have to be met in order to apply for a satellite service concession. Among these is the obligation on operators to respect all impositions and limits set by the Italian government for the protection of public health and ecology. The new regulation explicitly provides a new set of rules in order to limit the waiting-time for obtaining a licence. Based on the new regulation, interested parties will obtain such a licence within four weeks of the date of application.