Boxer emerges as DTT 'champion'

22-07-2008

by Deirdre McArdle

The Denis O'Brien-backed Boxer DTT consortium has been awarded all three national digital terrestrial television (DTT) licences.

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), which made the announcement on Monday, said the contracts were subject to clarifications and the successful outcome of contract negotiations, which it said will take place in the coming months.

In all, three consortia applied for the national DTT multiplex licences. Along with Boxer DTT there was the One Vision consortium, which was formed by TV3, Setanta Sports, Eircom and UK group Arqiva; and EasyTV, which is supported by RTE and Liberty Global, the parent group of the NTL and Chorus cable TV operators.

The Boxer DTT consortium was formed by Denis O'Brien's radio broadcasting firm Communicorp and Swedish DTT operator the Boxer Group, along with BT Ireland. In a presentation to the BCI in May, Lucy Gaffney, chairperson of Boxer DTT, claimed that the Boxer consortium was the only one established specifically and solely to provide digital terrestrial television services in Ireland.

Boxer DTT said it will launch its offering in January 2009. The 12-year licence will enable Boxer to operate three multiplexes (broadcasting networks) providing about 30 channels of digital TV through existing rooftop aerials. The service will debut in major cities and coverage will be extended to the whole country by 2012, when current analogue TV signals are likely to be phased out.

Under the Broadcasting Act, 2007, RTE is required to provide a digital television service offering access to the Irish national channels -- RTE, TG4 and TV3 -- on a free-to-air basis. The offering from Boxer will be additional to RTE's service.

In a statement, Communications Minister Eamon Ryan welcomed the decision by the BCI. He said that RTE has started work on upgrading its analogue television network and that the broadcaster expects to provide national free-to-air digital services starting from autumn 2009. "This, coupled with today's decision, means that we are on schedule for the switchover to digital television in Ireland," he said.

Chris Clark, CEO of BT, also welcomed the BCI decision. "BT chose to support the Boxer application because we believed it had the right blend of skills and experience to be the DTT champion for Ireland, in conjunction with RTE as the public service multiplex operator. As outlined in Boxer's application, BT will now proceed to implement a new world class digital multiplexing service to support Boxer's business plan and to play our part in Ireland's journey towards digital TV switchover by 2012."