Zon Optimus gives up legal action on DTT licence
March 6, 2014
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Portuguese telco Zon Optimus has decided to drop a lawsuit against the tender process to operate the fifth free-to-air DTT channel in Portugal.
The court action was filed in 2009 against the decision of the Regulatory Authority for the Media (ERC) to reject all bids submitted on the tender.
At the time, the ERC ruled that bids submitted by Zon and Telecinco did not meet the legal and regulatory requirements for admission to the competition, which led to their exclusion. In the first case, it pointed out insufficient technical means and human resources, while in the second cited economic and financial viability.
Telecinco also appealed the decision in court, which gave reason to the broadcaster, and then sued the ERC for excluding it, thus freezing the possible re-opening of the competition.
According to local press reports, Zon Optimus informed the Lisbon Administrative Court of the withdrawal of the request for action and requested a “termination of the proceedings”.
The decision of Zon Optimus opens the way for a new tender to award the fifth national DTT channel.