Free-to-air satellite TV

David Carabott writes: I am an avid satellite TV enthusiast. I especially like to get unscrambled free-to-air signals from different countries especially European TV.

Since June 2003, some of my favourite BBC channels have been beamed unscrambled and were receivable without the need to buy cards or unscrambling equipment. Hence there is no issue of piracy.

However, when BBC became free-to-air (in June 2003), it abandoned the Sky Digital platform and moved to a satellite known as Astra 2D.

SES Astra, the satellite's operator, narrowed the beam purposely in order to make it difficult to get it outside the UK. Still, in various countries one could still get the BBC signal but this is difficult in Malta because of our geographical position.

In my opinion, when SES Astra narrowed the beam it contravened EU laws and discriminated between different EU citizens in different EU countries. The same applies to RTE (the Irish national TV), which I cannot get due to the same narrow beam.

What can I do, as a European citizen, to be able to enjoy free-to- air transmissions on Astra 2D? What remedy, if any, is available to me?

For those who, like me, know very little about satellite television, it is important to explain that a number of television companies are now transmitting via satellite. When their transmission is free of charge - or "free-to-air" - you would be able to watch this channel without paying for it. But this also depends on whether the satellite being used to broadcast can be captured by your satellite receiver at home.

This appears to be this reader's problem because, as he explains, the beam that is projected by Astra 2D, which transmits his favourite channels, appears to be too narrow to include Malta.

My first reaction was that this is purely a commercial decision that is made by BBC and the satellite operator to beam on a limited geographical area and not across all of Europe. I would find it very unlikely for BBC or another TV company to be obliged to undertake the expense of beaming its channels over a much larger geographical area if it does not wish to extend its service beyond a certain region.

My assessment was therefore that if neighbouring countries, such as France and Spain, are caught in the current beam this is more likely to be a coincidence than an intended decision. Certainly not a deliberate act of discrimination.

I have nevertheless referred the matter to the European Commission in a parliamentary question and asked it for its position on the matter.

I informed the Commission about this complaint, in particular that SES Astra appears to have a licence which requires it to transmit on a pan-European basis but that, in practice, it does not appear to be doing so. As a result, many EU citizens are not able to receive free-to-air satellite transmissions from their country of residence.

Moreover, this means that EU citizens from one EU country are not able to receive and view free-to-air programming transmitted from another.

In his reply, EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy confirmed that SES Astra is a satellite operator which provides its customers and audiences a wide range of services such as, for example, broadcast services or broadband satellite communication services all over Europe. Their footprints provide extensive coverage across Europe with easy reception on small-sized dishes.

The Commission was aware of the difficulties met by some citizens who would like access to programmes broadcast from other member states via satellite, whether or not the programmes are free-to-air.

On the basis of the analysis carried out by the Commission, it appears that, despite the fact that broadcasters are able, via a satellite, to offer their programmes to several or all member states, national media policies, business models and contract arrangements often result in offers based on a given territory.

In other words, they can do it but they do not do it.

The Commissioner said there was no legal impediment to broadcasters acquiring, for instance, the relevant "sport rights" or intellectual property rights for their broadcasts on a pan-European basis. However, often they do not consider it to be economically viable to do so for more than one member state's territory.

The provision of a cross-border TV broadcast by a private broadcaster depends on the size of the audience, which has to be big enough to ensure the economic viability of the service. Moreover, broadcasters are not always in a position to buy rights relating to a programme for more than one member state because protected content owners are unwilling to sell them.

Cross-border broadcast, he therefore concluded, depended therefore on private parties' willingness to make it a reality.

So there is no breach of EU law in this case and no case of discrimination. The situation is merely a result of the satellite coverage not being wide enough to reach us. But one cannot force a private company to widen this coverage.

Readers who would like to raise issues or ask a question to Dr Busuttil may send an e-mail, making reference to this column, to contact@simonbusuttil.com