Sky questions Ofcom move on DTT plans
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BSkyB has questioned the need for an Ofcom consultation on Sky's proposals to launch a pay-TV service on digital terrestrial television (DTT). Ofcom yesterday said it would conduct a consultation in the autumn on plans by Sky and digital terrestrial multiplex partner National Grid Wireless (NGW) to replace three free-to-view channels with pay channels, and publish its conclusion early in 2008. The move scuppers Sky's hopes of launching its DTT service, which was expected to include live Premiership football, this summer.
A Sky spokesman said the pay-TV provider's plans would "increase competition and bring a better choice of programming to the DTT platform".
"The DTT platform already supports a mix of free and pay services, including subscription channels launched without public consultation by Top Up TV and Setanta. Following Ofcom's previous statement that it would remove the 'free to air only' restriction on DTT channels, we want to inject new competition to the platform.
"While is it regrettable that Ofcom feels unable to begin its consultation before the autumn, we'll continue to engage fully with the review and work towards launching the service as soon as possible."
In February Sky said it planned to remove Sky News, Sky Sports News and Sky Three from Freeview and use the capacity to broadcast four subscription channels offering movies, entertainment and live Premiership football. Sky said the four channels would deploy latest MPEG-4 video compression technology. Yesterday Ofcom said Sky was not intending to use MPEG-4 "at this stage".
Clarifying that point, Sky's spokesman told Lovelace Consulting: "The adoption of MPEG-4 technology is an inevitable step forward for DTT, bringing increased choice for viewers by making more efficient use of scarce capacity. We remain committed to introducing MPEG-4 at the earliest opportunity and all set-top boxes for our new service will be capable of receiving both MPEG4 and MPEG2 transmissions."
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