The European Commission’s Competition service has sent a list of 20 questions to the Italian government, requesting clarification of the current frequency distribution policy in the TV sector.
Among other things, the EU is interested in the situation which will be created after the switchover to digital terrestrial TV. It is also questioning whether the obligation imposed on RAI and Mediaset to make available 40% of the transmission capacity to other operators will be sufficient to prevent the RAI-Mediaset duopoly from being reproduced to the DTT sector.
The Commission is also asking when Italy will put an end to the anomalous situation of a TV channel (Mediaset’s Rete4) which, although without a concession, is authorised to continue broadcasting.