ITC Responds To European Ruling

The ITC has decided that, as a result of a ruling of the European Court of Justice, it will not in future license satellite services transmitted from the UK, by or on behalf of EU Persons, unless the service provider is ‘established’ in the UK.

When considering whether a service provider is ‘established’, the ITC will look at the principal place of business of the licensee or license applicant and where editorial decisions about programmes are made.

The 1990 Broadcasting Act required the ITC to exercise jurisdiction over satellite services if they were ‘uplinked’ from facilities located in the UK. The European Court Ruling, delivered last September, indicated that this did not conform to EC law, and that the place of ‘establishment’ ,rather than the location of the ‘uplink’ was the appropriate basis for the exercise of jurisdiction over EU persons.

Most UK based satellite services licensed by the ITC on the ‘uplink’ criterion are also clearly ‘established’ in the UK. The ITC has contacted those licensees who may be affected by the change.

ITC: 0171 306 7743