Cable TV/Telephony Bundling Not Anti-Competitive Says ITC

The Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Office for Telecommunications (OFTEL) today announced the provisional conclusions of their joint consultation into the bundling of television and telephony services. The consultation, announced in April last year (see ITC And OFTEL Consult On Cable TV And Telephony Bundling), was set up to investigate the ways in which cable operators retail their services after a complaint by BSkyB accused them of anti-competitive practices.

The main issue was that cable companies were pushing consumers to buy a bundled package of both telephony and television and refusing to provide or promote the services separately. The joint consultation also investigated whether the prices of mixed bundles are unjustifiably lower than the cable operators’ costs.

The ITC and OFTEL have provisionally concluded that there is no basis at this time to take action against the cable operators in relation to the practices or pricing of bundled telephony and television services. They discovered that cable operators are not refusing to supply the services separately but suggested that consumer choice should be more widely promoted.

The situation continues to be reviewed and a final decision will be taken after comments on these conclusions have been considered. Copies of the provisional conclusion are available at www.itc.co.uk and www.oftel.gov.uk

Independent Television Commission: 020 7255 3000 OFTEL: 020 7634 8700