Spain

[ES] CMT Approves Several Resolutions Concerning Audiovisual Services

IRIS 2001-8:1/13

Alberto Pérez Gómez

Entidad publica empresarial RED.ES

The Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (the Telecommunications Market Commission - CMT), is an independent regulatory body whose main duty is to safeguard the existence of free competition in the telecommunications and audiovisual and interactive services markets. The CMT recently approved several resolutions related to the audiovisual market:

- In March 2001, the CMT launched a public consultation on the shared use of decoders in a digital environment. According to Act 17/1997, which incorporates Directive 95/47/EC into Spanish Law, the CMT must ensure that the providers of conditional access services for digital TV use decoders which are directly and automatically open, either because they use an open system, or because the decoders' owners reach an agreement with the other digital TV operators.

In Spain there are currently five registered providers of conditional access services for digital TV (digital satellite platforms Canal Satélite Digital and Vía Digital; digital terrestrial TV platform Quiero TV, and cable operators Euskaltel and Madritel), which have not yet reached any agreement on the shared use of their decoders. This situation could hamper the development of the digital TV market, especially as regards digital terrestrial TV, which is due to replace analog terrestrial TV before 2013. The CMT decided to launch a consultation in order to ask all affected parties for their views on the potential bottlenecks which may exist in this market (not only as regards decoders, but also associated facilities, such as APIs, EPGs, hard disk...), and for their views on a possible intervention by the CMT on this matter.

- In April 2001, the CMT, responding to a request made by the Government of the Autonomous Community of Murcia, approved its Opinion on a draft Decree on the Awarding of FM Concessions in the Autonomous Community of Murcia. According to the second additional provision of this draft Decree, the Autonomous Community of Murcia shall exchange information relating to radio concessionaires with the CMT. The CMT is in charge of the management of the Public Registry for national radio concessionaires, while the Autonomous Communities manage the Public Registries for regional and local radio concessionaires, including those entitled to provide FM radio services. The CMT is trying to reach collaboration agreements in this field with the Autonomous Communities, in order to gather the information needed to provide a complete picture of the Spanish radio market.

- In June 2001, the CMT passed a resolution in response to a request made by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha about the provision of cable services by Telefónica Cable, a subsidiary of the telecommunications incumbent Telefónica.

Although Telefónica has been granted cable concessions in all geographic areas, it is planning not to invest in cable but to opt for ADSL technology instead, in order to use its upgraded public switched telephone network for the provision of broadband communications services.

The CMT has stated that Telefónica Cable should fully conform with the conditions attached to the cable concessions it obtained by virtue of the 1995 Cable Telecommunications Act. This implies that Telefónica Cable should have started providing cable services in the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha by June 1999. The CMT, however, does not determine whether the provision of ADSL services by Telefónica shall be taken into account when assessing whether this company is fulfilling the conditions established by its cable concessions as regards the deployment of the cable networks and the availability of cable services. These matters are regulated by the provisions of an undisclosed Annex to the agreement on the provision of cable services signed by Telefónica and the Spanish Administration in 1999.

In July 2001, the CMT launched its Annual Report, which provides an overview of the activities of the CMT in 2000, as well as an analysis of the situation of the Spanish telecommunications and audiovisual and interactive services markets.