Altice Portugal has until December 9 to inform the regulator ANACOM if wants to continue providing a DTT service in the country.
Diario de Noticias> reports that Altice, which is the owner of Meo (previously known as Portugal Telecom), was granted a DTT licence for 15 years on October 9, 2008, with its expiration on the same day and month of the year 2023.
However, under the terms of the Electronic Communications Law – both the current one and one that will come onto effect in November – Meo has to request a renewal of the licence at least one year before the end of its validity. In this case, that date is December 9.
ANACOM has no knowledge of Altice’s decision, while Altice, which indicated three years ago that it was not interested in renewing the licence, has in fact yet to decide.
Although the Portuguese government is keen on DTT continuing, in 2019 Altice spoke about legal uncertainty and breach of trust when ANACOM forced Meo to cuts the prices charged to channels for carriage on the DTT platform by 15.16%.
Altice’s DTT service currently broadcasts six channels.
