The recent sale of Cablelink by the State for the sum of £535 million provides some idea of the value that television and information service systems now command. In that regard, a decision by the Government to invest heavily in digital technology and to restructure the operations of RTE and Telefis na Gaeilge in the process is of particular significance. Government strategy is outlined in a new Broadcasting Bill, published yesterday by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms Sile de Valera.
Details of the financial implications flowing from the establishment of a new broadcasting infrastructure are disappointingly sketchy. A new commercial entity, in which RTE will hold less than 40 per cent of the equity, is to be created to manage and control the entire digital terrestrial television (DTT) network, composed of six multiplex sections (each with five-channel capacity), through a joint venture with one or more strategic partners. Such commercial interests will be expected to contribute "relevant expertise as well as finance" and will be chosen after public tender. The Government will be advised by AIB Corporate Finance.
Within the new structure, RTE will be allocated one of the multiplexes and a second will be shared by TV3 and Telefis na Gaeilge. The remaining four may carry UK terrestrial channels as subscription services, as well as premium services such as movie and sports channels. Internet and other interactive services may also be provided. It is a glimpse into the world of tomorrow.
The Minister identified access to the Internet and other interactive services as important public policy objectives because of the capacity of DTT to deliver information society services to rural areas. And, in the same vein, she supported the public service broadcasting remit under which RTE operates; in a Europe of competitive multi-national and transnational commercial broadcasting, there was a need for a national service that reflected the cultural diversity of Ireland. Provisions within the Bill would, she said, clarify the uses to which licence fees and exchequer monies could be put. There would be no blank cheque. The commercial sector would challenge the public sector to be cost competitive and she would require RTE to provide an annual report on how television licence revenue was expended.
The Bill provides for the establishment of a new Broadcasting Commission of Ireland that will lay down a code of standards for programmes and other services. And, while the Minister speaks of the Commission regulating the sector "with a light touch", it is in a context that requires "taste and decency" to be applied, especially in the portrayal of violence and sexual conduct. Ms de Valera's decision to retain the services of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission, rather than have its functions subsumed into the new Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, is a wise one. It would, as she said, be inappropriate for a single body to act as standards-setter, complaints agency and arbitrator. The Minister hoped the new transmission entity that will control the DTT sector would be operational by the end of this year. And, she said, RTE was planning to introduce digital broadcasting in the second half of the year 2000. Given the delay in the production of this Bill, however, which was approved by the Cabinet last July, slippage in that schedule is likely.