Foxtel monopoly must not be allowed to strangle ABC 10 April 2002

The Friends of the ABC have supported the ABC's call for a "must carry" provision for pay TV licensees. Writing to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the ABC has expressed concern about its certainty of access to delivery platforms.

Friends of the ABC National Spokesperson, Darce Cassidy, said:

"Seventy percent of Australians tune in to ABC TV at some time each week. If the ABC is prepared to make its output available at no cost to a pay TV operator, then those operators should be obliged to carry the ABC output. It would be outrageous if a monopoly provider, as Foxtel may well be, could exclude a publicly funded service which should be available to all Australians".

"Should Australia's biggest company, Telstra, which has an interest in Foxtel, also acquire a major interest in Channel 9, it should not be in a position to use its monopoly power against Channel 9's competitors"

Mr. Cassidy also supported the ABC's call to retain the Channel 2 position on pay services, just as it does in so called "free to air" services.

Commenting on the U.S. cable industry, Mr. Cassidy said: " We should benefit from the U.S. experience. When the 'must carry' rules were dropped in the U.S., there was a huge outcry, forcing the government to re-introduce regulation. In a multi-channel environment, where there is adequate bandwidth, there can be no excuse for excluding some services"

………..ends

Further comment

Darce Cassidy
National Spokesperson