One of the main aims of the Broadcasting Act 2009 was to provide opportunities for the development of a commercial digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. In this regard, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) was given the role of providing for commercial DTT service providers. In particular, the legislation made provision for the BAI to enter into contracts with commercial multiplex service providers to establish, maintain and operate a multiplex within the coverage area specified in the contract and for the term of the contract.
As the Deputy is aware, the competition initiated by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) in 2008 failed to produce a national commercial DTT service provider and this failure has been largely attributed to the economic downturn and the consequential impact that this had on the business cases of the applicants. The failure of the commercial DTT process was disappointing and it is now not expected that a commercial DTT operator will materialise until sometime after analogue switch off in 2012. As a result, consideration of the potential in this regard and of the most appropriate mechanisms for delivering this will be undertaken closer to that time.
In the meantime, the clear responsibility of my Department, in conjunction with the BAI, ComReg and other stakeholders, is to ensure the successful delivery of the ‘free-to-air' DTT service to the viewing public. I have directed that this be done by the autumn of 2012 to facilitate switch-off of the analogue system and the consequential digital dividend that will arise.