The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has delayed the conclusion of its investigation into British Sky Broadcasting’s (BSkyB) domination of the pay-TV market, due to the complexity of the issues involved.
BSkyB has over 5m subscribers to its pay-TV services, mainly Sky Digital customers, compared to the 1m subscribers gained by Carlton and Granada’s joint-owned ONdigital. If BSkyB, in which Rupert Murdoch holds a 37% stake, is found to have engaged in anti-competitive behaviour it could be face a multi-million pound fine or be broken up.
The investigation was launched last December (see BSkyB Faces OFT Investigation) and was due to be completed this month. A spokesperson for the OFT said today that the conclusion was unlikely to be during the coming summer as sufficient time was needed to consider this “very complex case”, and that a firm date could not be given at this stage.
BSkyB: 020 7705 3000 www.sky.com Office of Fair Trading: 020 7211 8000 www.oft.gov.uk
