Argentina ‘bans’ co-op pay-TV
November 21, 2011
By Chris Forrester
Argentina’s Justice Ministry has reminded broadcasters that they risk falling foul of the country’s Audiovisual Communication Service Law (article 30) which forbids co-operatives from entering the pay-TV market. The rule was temporarily suspended, but the rule has now been firmly re-established.
Currently, many such co-operative joint-ventures are awaiting transmission licences, including Telpin (from Pinamar province), Telviso ( from Del Viso) and TelVGG (from Villa Gobernador Gálvez), in Buenos Aires province, are also waiting for their licences, in this case, to render IPTV services. In the meantime, such co-operatives have already launched their VOD through broadband streaming.
The confusion is expected to be clarified in the Courts shortly. Oscar Nocetti, President of the Cooperative Popular de Electricidad (CPE), which is planning to launch CATV in Santa Rosa, La Pampa Province, said: “We are thirty co-operatives waiting”, he said. “We assume this should be in progress by mid-December.”