In October 2008, and further to a public tender, ICP-ANACOM awarded PT Comunicações, S.A. (PTC) a right of use for frequencies, of a national scope, for the digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting service, connected to Multiplexer A (Mux A), intended for the broadcast of free-to-air television programme services1.
On 18 May 2012, following an exponential increase in complaints received at this Authority motivated by a perceived lack of DTT signal in areas of wide geographical spread, and considering that this situation urgently needed to be resolved, especially in order to protect the interests of users, which at that moment was clearly incompatible with a structural network change process, ICP-ANACOM decided, in that exceptional context and following a request and solution put forward by the company, to allocate PTC a temporary network license2, valid for 180 days, concerning three broadcasting stations, namely: Monte da Virgem [channel 42 (638-646 MHz)], Lousã [channel 46 (670-678MHz)] and Montejunto [channel 49 (694-702MHz)].
In the scope of the temporary license, PTC undertook to engage frequencies under consideration to the purposes and respective conditions provided for in the right of use for frequencies, connected to Mux A, remaining bound to optimize the technical characteristics of the network supported on channel 56, in order to effectively decrease self-interference areas, the priority being areas not covered by the temporarily licensed overlay network.
It should be stressed that on this occasion ICP-ANACOM indicated that the adoption of a solution with structural impact for the DTT network would necessarily require a participated procedure, involving an appropriate consultation of all interested parties, including the Entidade Reguladora para a Comunicação Social (ERC - the Portuguese Media Authority). ICP-ANACOM highlighted also that the temporary network licensing, by definition a transitory framework, would allow «consideration to be given, during the period under consideration and where deemed necessary, to the launch of a participated procedure with the mentioned structural impact».
Subsequently, by determination of 16 November 20123, and further to a request by PTC, ICP-ANACOM renewed the granted temporary license4, pursuant to and under the conditions laid down in the initial allocation (dated 18 May).
Having ICP-ANACOM acknowledged, at the date of renewal of the temporary license, that there were no conditions at that time as would provide for the non-renewal of the temporary license (given that such a course would result in difficulties of service access), the Authority declared however that, over the coming months, it would be necessary to reach a definitive solution which had to be efficient and suitable, «after the network optimisation work is well advanced, greater stabilization/consolidation of DTT versus DTH coverage areas has been achieved, and a sounder understanding of service access difficulties resulting from the adaptation and state of conservation of reception installations and from signal instability has been developed».
Together with the request for temporary license renewal, PTC also sought «the action that ICP-ANACOM consider[ed] to be the most appropriate in order to proceed with the maintenance of the MFN network currently in use, its settings remaining, together with the network operating on channel 56 (see RUF ICP-ANACOM No 06/2008), as a united and integrated DTT network (...) ». This Authority emphasised on this point that «the temporary network licensing is, by definition, a temporary solution and, as such, the maintenance of the present situation beyond expiry of the 180 day one-off licence renewal period (...) requires proper consideration and thorough analysis; it also requires a special framework (...)».
In the scope of the temporary license renewal, ICP-ANACOM thus ordered PTC to inform this Authority of the final solution it proposed for the DTT network, giving the reasons for its position, having the company concluded, in response, that the existing solution (corresponding to the use of frequencies allocated in the temporary network license, in addition to the single frequency network covered by the right of use for frequencies) should be «maintained and reflected in the national qualifying document granting the rights of use for frequencies connected to Mux A».
1 Right of Use for Frequencies ICP-ANACOM No 06/2008, issued on 9 December 2008 (RUF ICP-ANACOM 6/2008), available at:
2 Pursuant to article 13, paragraph 1, of Decree-Law No 151-A/2000, of 20 July, as amended and republished by Decree-Law No 264/2009, of 28 September (Radio license legal regime).
3 Available at: DTT - renewal of temporary network license granted to PTChttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1144679.
4 The only possible renewal, pursuant to paragraph 1 of article 13 of the referred Decree-Law No 151-A/2000, of 20 July.
