CACC 2007, PRAGUE – While the Czech cable industry gears up for the launch of digital TV services by the leading MSO UPC, its Slovak counterpart finds itself dealing with problems related to copyright. Speaking exclusively to Broadband TV News at the Czech Association of Competitive Communications (CACC) conference in Prague, Vladimir Izak, the president of SAKT, one of Slovakia’s two cable associations, said that it is in dispute with three of five collection societies.
There appears to be considerable overlap between the areas covered by the societies and the SAKT is calling on the Ministry of Culture to make the their licences more precise. The APKT, Slovakia’s other cable association, is according to its president Robert Tavoda experiencing similar, though not as serious, problems with the societies. SAKT represents mostly Slovakia’s smaller operators though has recently secured Orange and Slovak Telecom as new members. APKT, on the other hand, lists all the largest operators, headed by UPC, among its membership.