This consultation invites stakeholders to comment on Ofcom’s proposal to issue new guidelines on how Ofcom intends to interpret the existing regulatory conditions that apply to those operators of digital TV platforms that are required to provide access to Conditional Access, Access Control and Electronic Program Guide technical services on regulated terms. Ofcom has adopted the term “Technical Platform Services” (“TPS”) to jointly describe these technical services and refer to such regulated providers as a “TPS Provider”.
The regulatory conditions (“the Conditions”) which Ofcom is required to interpret were put in place by Oftel in July 2003. The Conditions currently only apply to the digital TV platform operator SSSL (“Sky”). Certain regulatory conditions imposed on the TPS Provider require it to provide access to TPS on fair, reasonable and non discriminatory (“FRND”) terms. Other conditions relate to, for example, the publication of charges and separation of accounts. To date, Ofcom has based its interpretation of the regulatory conditions imposed on the TPS Provider using guidelines published by the Oftel in 2002. Currently the two ‘guidance’ documents that primarily relate to the regulation of access to Conditional Access, EPG and Access Control services, collectively defined as the “Current Guidelines”, are:
- “The pricing of conditional access services and related issues – a statement by the Director General of Telecommunications” (8 May 2002)
- “Terms of supply of conditional access, Oftel guidelines” (22 October 2002)
In this document Ofcom sets out various options for interpreting the Conditions and, based on an evaluation against its statutory duties, identifies its preferred options. It is these preferred options that form the Proposed Guidelines.