Search results : 102

On 19 July 2011 the European Commission sent requests for information in the form of letters of formal notice, the first step in the process of an EU infringement procedure, to 20 EU member states. The member states in question, namely Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, have not yet notified to the Commission measures to implement the new EU Telecoms Package, formally adopted after two years of heated negotiations at the end of 2009...

According to the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM), the regulator, supervisor and representative of the communications sector in Portugal, digital terrestrial television covers currently about 87% of the population, while the remainder is serviced via satellite. The switch-off plan for analogue television broadcasts in the transition to digital terrestrial television adopted by the ANACOM (which is coordinating the process of transition) is due to be concluded by 26 April 2012 and it is expected to be implemented in three phases, i.e., on: “12 January 2012, for transmitters/relays providing...

On 6 April the Portuguese Parliament adopted Law 421/XI on the use of open standards on public IT systems. Although this law concerns the public administration, it is expected to open a discussion on open standards in other areas as well, as it contains a clear definition of both open standards and interoperability. The law defines "open standard" as a technical standard intended for the publication, transmission and storage of digital information, meeting the necessary requirements established by its provisions. Accordingly, an open standard has to be adopted and maintained by a non-profit organisation...

On 11 April 2011 the new Portuguese television act (see IRIS 2011-4/30) was published in the official news bulletin, the Diário da República, after receiving parliamentary approval last February. The new act transposes the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Directive no. 2007/65/CE - AVMSD) and introduces amendments to previous national laws, namely the Television Act no. 27/2007, the Publicity Code and the Act that restructures the radio and television public service broadcasters (Law no. 8/2007). Some of the main changes in this sector are related to media ownership and advertising. The...

On 2 March 2011, the Parliamentary Commission on Ethics, Society and Culture (13ª Commissão de Ética, Sociedade e Cultura) approved the Social Democrats' request to conduct several hearings in order to evaluate the experience of media regulation in Portugal. Following the ending of the current Regulatory Council’s mandate of the Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (media regulatory authority - ERC), the request seeks to organize hearings of several representatives of the media sector regarding the five years’ mandate. This situation further delays the appointment of the members of the...