BSkyB Welcomes Office Of Fair Trading Review Of Undertakings

The OFT has announced that it is to fulfil its promise to review the informal undertakings given by British Sky Broadcasting to the Director General of Fair Trading, John Bridgeman, in 1996, relating to the terms on which BSkyB supplies cable operators with certain of its channels.

A spokesman for BSkyB said: “We are very pleased to see that the OFT recognises the significant market developments which have taken place since BSkyB gave its undertakings, including the consolidation of the cable industry, and the advent of digital technology, which has given the UK, uniquely, three competing platforms for digital TV.

“When the undertakings were put in place in 1996 the OFT noted that the benefit of giving informal undertakings was that they could be easily and quickly changed to respond flexibly to developments in a very dynamic and innovative market. The cable operators are now backed by major international companies such as AT&T, Microsoft and France Telecom, and do not need the help of the regulators to negotiate their carriage deals.

“BSkyB looks forward to co-operating with the OFT and is hopeful that the review will result in the removal of outdated rules and unnecessary burden on BSkyB.???

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