Portuguese regulator orders Meo to reduce DTT prices
July 6, 2018
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Altice Portugal’s Meo unit will have to reduce the prices it charges to national broadcasters RTP, SIC and TVI for the distribution of their channels on the DTT network.
This follows a ruling by Portugal’s National Communications Authority (Anacom) that imposed a 15.16 per cent cut per Mbps on the annual fee charged by Meo.
The draft decision of the regulator will now be subject to a prior hearing and public consultation for 30 working days, lasting until August 17th.
Anacom concluded that the current prices, agreed between Meo and the broadcasters, exceed the price limit presented in the public tender that awarded the licences for Mux A (€885.100 per year and per Mbps).
For its part, Altice Portugal says it opposes Anacom’s draft decision, as it will “aggravate the losses it has incurred with DTT” since the prices already charged are below the costs sustained. It also pointed out that the proposal was issued without prior consultation with the operators.
Recently, Altice also said it was “very concerned” about Anacom’s decision to change the frequency used for DTT broadcasting in 2019.