Complaint to EU against Swedish State
15 Mar, 2006
PRESS RELEASE 2006-03-15: The Swedish satellite company SES SIRIUS AB has submitted a complaint with the EU against the Swedish Government. The company is alleging the creation of a new distribution monopoly in the television industry. The Swedish Government has created a legal framework for the preferential treatment of the digital terrestrial network, acting in in contravention of EU directives on the switchover from analogue to digital television transmissions.
SES SIRIUS AB (formerly Nordic Satellite AB) submitted its infringement complaint with the European Commission.
The complaint refers to the Government's directive to the Digital Television Commission, the official and only authority planning the transition to digital television transmissions exclusively to the terrestrial network and providing information to the general public on this transition. The directive to the Digital Television Commission states that the commission "shall prepare for the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasts and coordinate the information activities made necessary by the transition."
SES SIRIUS AB finds that the directive is contradictory to the EU directive providing guidelines on the switchover from analogue to digital television transmissions.
- "The EU directive clearly states that all forms of distribution are to be treated equally," says Per Norman, CEO of SES SIRIUS AB.
- "Consumers must be given the opportunity to choose for themselves the distribution form best suited to their individual needs. The actions of the Government risk creating a new television monopoly by exclusively favouring the terrestrial network operator Teracom and Pay-TV operator Boxer, both are state owned," continues Per Norman.
The management team at SIRIUS believes that the focus on the digital terrestrial network will hinder and delay the development of the next generation's television standard, HDTV (High Definition TV). The terrestrial network is a resource with limited space for new technologies such as HDTV.
In February 2008 the analogue terrestrial network will be shut down in Sweden. Several other European countries are also in the process of shutting down their analogue television networks.
- "Our intentions in the submission of this complaint is to inform and warn both the EU and member states of the negative consequences of favouring a single form of distribution,in this case, terrestrial distribution. We hope that it will discourage other countries from making the same mistake," concludes Per Norman.
» Download the DTV Commission Infringement Complaint (PDF)
For further information, please contact:
Per Norman, CEO, SES SIRIUS AB
+46 (0)708-94 25 80
per.norman@ses-sirius.com
or
Anna-Karin Modigh
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
+46 (0)708-94 25 86
anna-karin.modigh@ses-sirius.com
