The Estonian digital services provider Levira will target international TV broadcasters who need to acquire operating licences for the EU market once Brexit will take effect and UK-based licences will become void.
Commenting on the development, Martti Kinkar, the company’s media services development manager, said: “Estonia’s advantages lie in its open economy, penetration of electronic services, available infrastructure and favourable licence fees. Levira is running a state-of-the-art play-out centre and pan-European Media Distribution Network dedicated for linear services. Furthermore, Estonia has necessary regulatory framework in place.”
Tiit Tammiste, chairman of the board of Levira, added that the company is working closely with the Estonian government to start offering licence agreements to international companies in the coming years.
This coming Wednesday, he will be speaking in London at a business seminar for broadcasting companies based in the UK.
Levira notes that Ofcom is currently the leading issuer of broadcasting licences in the EU and according to analysts, over 1,000 stations will have to acquire a new EU licence.
Expert Media Partners Ltd evaluated the prospects of different countries in offering licenses, considering regulations, simplicity of doing business, legal framework and language barriers. The Netherlands holds the strongest position (80 points out of 100) according to the research, followed by Ireland (78 points) and Estonia (76 points).
