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Ofcom closes case on BT, Sky Sports wholesale complaint
Editor
| 18 February 2016
UK broadcast regulator Ofcom has ended its investigation regarding the alleged abuse of a dominant position regarding the wholesale supply of Sky Sports to pay-TV rivals, notably BT.
The legal battle has drawn out for almost three years after Ofcom received a complaint from BT on 24 May 2013 alleging that the terms on which Sky offered wholesale supply of Sky Sports 1 and 2 to BT’s YouView platform amounted to an abuse of dominance. On 31 July 2013, Ofcom refused BT’s application for interim measures.
However, using Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (abuse of a dominant position), and noting that BT has now obtained access to the channels on a non-reciprocal basis for its YouView platform, the remedy sought in the complaint, Ofcom considers that the principal risk to the interests of the consumers identified in the original complaint has therefore been brought to an end.
Moreover, Ofcom adds that in light of the fact that the principal risk to the interests of consumers has been brought to an end, it considers that it is no longer appropriate to commit resources to a continued investigation.
Editor
| 18 February 2016
UK broadcast regulator Ofcom has ended its investigation regarding the alleged abuse of a dominant position regarding the wholesale supply of Sky Sports to pay-TV rivals, notably BT.
The legal battle has drawn out for almost three years after Ofcom received a complaint from BT on 24 May 2013 alleging that the terms on which Sky offered wholesale supply of Sky Sports 1 and 2 to BT’s YouView platform amounted to an abuse of dominance. On 31 July 2013, Ofcom refused BT’s application for interim measures.
However, using Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (abuse of a dominant position), and noting that BT has now obtained access to the channels on a non-reciprocal basis for its YouView platform, the remedy sought in the complaint, Ofcom considers that the principal risk to the interests of the consumers identified in the original complaint has therefore been brought to an end.
Moreover, Ofcom adds that in light of the fact that the principal risk to the interests of consumers has been brought to an end, it considers that it is no longer appropriate to commit resources to a continued investigation.
