Spain

[ES] Changes to Bill on Digital Television Act agreed

IRIS 1997-4:1/34

Wolfgang Closs

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

In IRIS 1997-2:10 we reported on the adoption of a decree by the Spanish Government on the outline conditions for marketing digital television programmes.

This decree effectively transposes Directive 95/47/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the use of standards for the transmission of television signals into Spanish national law. In the interim, as part of the approval process, the Spanish Parliament has transformed the decree ( see IRIS 19972: 10) into an ordinary act - the Digital Television Act. At the same time the Media Committee decided on important changes to its content.

The ceiling for participation in the capital of digital television companies was redefined. In future no natural or legal person will be allowed to hold more than 25% of the capital of a digital television broadcasting company. This new regulation affects the commercial structure of CSD ( Canal Satelite Digital ), which so far is the only provider.

The Government's regulation requiring companies to supply a compatible decoder free of charge was dropped, so that a company-specific decoder could be used as an alternative.

The Bill - recommended but not yet adopted by the Parliament - also provides for a relaxation of the original stipulation by making the charge for using the decoder dependent on the market, ie without the Government having any right of say in the matter.

The official adoption of the Act will be reported in IRIS.