Spain

[ES] Spanish Government approves rules to grant six new nation-wide DTT licenses

IRIS 2015-6:1/11

Joan Barata Mir

On 17 April 2015, the Spanish Government approved the rules which will govern the process to grant six new DTT nation-wide licenses according to a “beauty contest” scheme. The rules establish the criteria according to which three standards plus three high definition frequencies will be assigned. These criteria include different parameters, such as technical and economic elements, content proposal, corporate strategy and promotion of pluralism and diversity. Despite Spain having recently established an independent regulatory authority with some competences in - among several other fields - the audiovisual sector, the final decision will be in the hands of the Government.

This new contest takes place five years after the digital switchover was fully completed in Spain and has to be understood against the background of the important decision by the Supreme Court of November 2012 (see IRIS 2013-2/19). The Court decided to annul a decree previously adopted by the Spanish Government, which directly granted a series of frequencies to a group of broadcasters without any sort of public tender. The effective implementation of the Court ruling began a fierce discussion and negotiation between the Government and the incumbent broadcasters, which had been using the new digital channels since the switchover. This difficult process resulted in the blackout and closure of several of the broadcasters.

The Government is expected to adopt a decision on the tender in autumn 2015. Several stakeholders have already filed a series of lawsuits against these rules.