On 16 January 2007, Ofcom received a preliminary submission from British Telecommunications plc, Setanta Sport Holdings Limited, Top Up TV Europe Limited and Virgin Media Limited, which asks us to investigate the pay TV industry and to consider whether to make a market reference to the Competition Commission under the Enterprise Act 2002.
The submission alleges that competition in the UK pay TV industry is not working effectively and that there are features of the industry that result in competition being prevented, restricted or distorted.
These concerns led us to announce on 20 March 2007 that we would investigate the pay TV market. The eventual aim of this investigation is to determine whether there are competition issues in pay TV which require action by us.
Ofcom received a further submission in July, and a response from Sky in October.
Under our general duty to promote competition, we have been collecting evidence and carrying out analysis to gain a preliminary understanding of the operation of the pay TV market, and the outcome for consumers. We now wish to seek stakeholders’ views on this initial analysis, and on what it implies for the operation of the market.
We have not yet reached a conclusion on the existence of competition problems. We will use the responses to the consultation to determine what further steps, if any, should be taken in the investigation.
