ANACOM launches public consultation regarding the licences of SIC and TVI for renewal purposes

ANACOM - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações has already started the process of renewal of SIC's and TVI's licences, and has already approved the document which will be subject to public consultation and regarding which interest parties may send their comments during a 20 working days' period.

The current licences are in force until 22 February 2007 and were granted for a 15 year period, renewable for an equal period of time further to a request by the interested parties to ANACOM at least one year prior to the expiry of the term of the licence. SIC requested ANACOM to renew its licence on 26 January and TVI did the same on 10 February. With the licences' renewal, SIC and TVI will hold rights of frequency use until 2022, and it is foreseen that analogical television broadcasts will end before that date, following the European Commission's recommendations that all Member States make sure that the digital switch-over occurs until 2012. This circumstance may lead to a possible setting of an expiry date for the rights of frequency use in connection with the switch-off date, when the frequencies must be returned to the radio spectrum manager representing the Portuguese State - ANACOM. This might be understood as a restriction to the rights of frequency use granted to SIC and TVI. This issue was subject to public consultation by the regulator, in accordance with the terms of Regicom (Communications Law). Indeed, changes brought to the conditions, rights and proceedings of this activity must lawfully be subject to the general consultation proceedings and thus the regulator decided to put the renewal of SIC's and TVI's licenses for public consultation. It gave 20 working days for the interested parties to submit their comments.

In the scope of its spectrum management powers, every year ANACOM releases the National Frequency Allocation Plan - NFAP - which defines the frequencies requiring rights of use and identifies their corresponding holders. The 2005/2006 NFAP was already approved and according to it the holders of rights of frequency use within the analogical television broadcasting service are, besides RTP and ''2'', SIC and TVI.

Consult:

Renewal of the rights of frequency use granted to SIC and TVI http://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1086033