The CNMC makes regulatory obligations more flexible in the wholesale television signal broadcasting market

The obligation of price control based on cost orientation is replaced by an obligation of reasonable prices.

The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has agreed to maintain the wholesale market regulation of the television signal broadcast carrier service through terrestrial waves. This decision comes after the fourth review of the wholesale market, which began with a public consultation with the sector last October 2018.

The market affected by this regulation is the broadcast service, which transmits the DTT signal to homes. Technically, it is defined as that which includes the technical activities that consist of making audiovisual content prepared by broadcasters available to the public through electronic communications services, via terrestrial waves as a distribution channel.

The CNMC has decided maintain the designation of Cellnex as an operator with significant power of market. Now, the conditions of the regulatory framework have been made more flexible with the aim of facilitating access agreements between Cellnex and its competitors and, with this, the effective entry of alternative suppliers that provide the broadcasting service to broadcasters.

Under this new approach, the modality of co-location access in the emitter centers of the Cellnex network it no longer has a preferential character over the interconnection modality. With this change, alternative operators will be able to request access to the Cellnex broadcast network in any of the two modalities, depending on the needs of their business model and without any type of additional restriction, beyond the technical ones.

Likewise, the obligation to control prices based on the “cost orientation” for an obligation of “reasonable prices"Cellnex will continue to be obliged to comply with the obligations of cost accounting and accounting separation. This cost information will serve as a reference to determine whether the prices offered by the operator with significant market power are reasonable. That is, they are not excessive or cause a compression of margins.

The wholesale television broadcasting market in Spain

The television service has undergone changes in recent years. Thus, consumers have alternative platforms for the dissemination of audiovisual content, derived from the deployment of new fiber networks, and the growing demand for pay television offers (including those provided through OTT platforms). However, 80% of Spanish households continue to access the television service through the DTT platform, according to data from the special Eurobarometer. In addition, free-to-air channels maintain a high audience level, which is greater than 70%, according to the quarterly reports of the CNMC.

Despite the competitive environment, Cellnex controls a resource that is difficult for other competitors to replicate, such as the only digital terrestrial television broadcasting network with national coverage. It is the only operator that offers the broadcasting service to national broadcasters (such as Corporación RTVE, Atresmedia or Mediaset), having limited the entry of competitors to the regional and local levels.

In the European Union, the provision of the carrier service of television broadcasting over terrestrial waves is regulated in Finland, France, Ireland, Poland and Sweden.