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(6) OFCOM may decide not to renew the licence if they are not satisfied that the | |
applicant (if his licence were renewed) would provide a service complying | |
with the requirements imposed under Chapter 4 of this Part by conditions | |
relating to— | |
(a) the public service remit for the licensed service; | 5 |
(b) programming quotas; | |
(c) news and current affairs programmes; and | |
(d) programme production and regional programming. | |
(7) OFCOM may also decide not to renew the licence if they propose to grant a | |
fresh licence for a service replacing the licensed service which would differ | 10 |
from the licensed service in— | |
(a) the area for which it would be provided; or | |
(b) the times of the day, or days of the week, between or on which it would | |
be provided. | |
(8) In all cases in which— | 15 |
(a) the applicant notifies OFCOM that he accepts the terms notified to him | |
under subsection (4)(c), and | |
(b) they are not required or allowed by subsections (5) to (7) to refuse a | |
renewal, | |
they must grant the renewal as soon as reasonably practicable. | 20 |
(9) But OFCOM must not grant a renewal under this section more than eighteen | |
months before the end of the licensing period from the end of which the | |
renewal will take effect. | |
(10) Where a licence is renewed under this section, it must be renewed on the same | |
terms and conditions, subject only to such modifications as are required to give | 25 |
effect, in accordance with the determination under subsection (4)(b), to the | |
requirements imposed by section 212(4). | |
(11) Nothing in this section requires OFCOM, following the receipt of an | |
application for the renewal of a licence— | |
(a) to make a decision or determination, or | 30 |
(b) to take any other step under this section, | |
at any time after an order under section 224 has come into force preventing the | |
renewal of the licence. | |
(12) For the purposes of this section a licensing period is— | |
(a) the period beginning with the commencement of this section and | 35 |
ending with 31st December 2014; or | |
(b) any subsequent period of ten years beginning with the end of the | |
previous licensing period. | |
(13) In this section “tender notice” means a notice under section 15 of the 1990 Act. | |
212 Financial terms of licence renewed under s. 211 | 40 |
(1) The determination under section 211(4)(b) must comprise— | |
(a) a determination of the amount which the holder of the renewed licence | |
will be required by the conditions of that licence to pay to OFCOM in | |
respect of the first complete calendar year falling within the renewal | |
period; and | 45 |
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(b) a determination of the percentage of qualifying revenue for each | |
accounting period of the licence holder falling within the renewal | |
period which the holder of that licence will be required by those | |
conditions to pay to OFCOM. | |
(2) The amount determined under subsection (1)(a) must be equal to the amount | 5 |
which, in OFCOM’s opinion, would have been the cash bid of the licence | |
holder were the licence (instead of being renewed) to be granted for the period | |
of the renewal on an application made in accordance with section 15 of the 1990 | |
Act. | |
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b)— | 10 |
(a) different percentages may be determined for different accounting | |
periods; and | |
(b) the percentages that may be determined for an accounting period | |
include a nil percentage. | |
(4) The renewed licence is required, as renewed, to include conditions requiring the licence | 15 |
holder to pay to OFCOM— | |
(a) in addition to any fees required to be paid by virtue of section 4(1)(b) of the | |
1990 Act, but | |
(b) instead of the amounts payable under the corresponding provision applicable | |
under the conditions of the licence to the period before the renewal takes effect, | 20 |
the amounts specified in subsection (5). | |
(5) Those amounts are— | |
(a) in respect of the first complete calendar year falling within the renewal period, | |
the amount determined under subsection (1)(a); | |
(b) in respect of each subsequent year falling wholly or partly within the renewal | 25 |
period, that amount increased by the appropriate percentage; and | |
(c) in respect of each accounting period of the licence holder falling within the | |
renewal period, an amount representing a specified percentage of qualifying | |
revenue for that accounting period. | |
(6) The percentage specified for the purposes of subsection (5)(c) in respect of an | 30 |
accounting period must be the amount determined for that period under | |
subsection (1)(b). | |
(7) In this section— | |
“the appropriate percentage” and “qualifying revenue” each has the same | |
meaning as in section 19 of the 1990 Act; and | 35 |
“renewal period”, in relation to a licence, means the period for which the | |
licence is in force by reason of its renewal. | |
The public teletext service | |
213 Duty to secure the provision of a public teletext service | |
(1) OFCOM must do all that they can to secure the provision, in accordance with | 40 |
this Chapter and Part 1 of the 1996 Act, of a teletext service that is available | |
nationwide. | |
(2) The service must consist of— | |
(a) a single teletext service provided in digital form with a view to its being | |
broadcast by means of a television multiplex service; and | 45 |
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(b) for so long as one or more Channel 3 services, Channel 4 or S4C is | |
broadcast in analogue form, an analogue teletext service. | |
(3) The analogue teletext service that must be comprised in the public teletext | |
service is a single additional television service that uses the combined spare | |
capacity available for the provision of additional television services on the | 5 |
frequencies on which Channel 3 services, Channel 4 and S4C (or any of them) | |
are broadcast in analogue form. | |
(4) For so long as the public teletext service must consist of both a teletext service | |
provided in digital form and an analogue teletext service, OFCOM must secure | |
that both services are provided by the same person. | 10 |
(5) But nothing in this section— | |
(a) requires the contents of the two services comprised in the public | |
teletext service to be the same; | |
(b) prevents the service from including different items for different parts of | |
the United Kingdom or prevents the different items from being made | 15 |
available only in the parts of the United Kingdom for which they are | |
included; or | |
(c) prevents the licence holder from making arrangements authorised by | |
virtue of section 215 for the provision of the whole or a part of the | |
public teletext service by another. | 20 |
(6) OFCOM must exercise their powers— | |
(a) to make frequencies available for the purposes of Channel 3 services, | |
Channel 4 and S4C; and | |
(b) to make determinations for the purposes of section 48(2)(b) of the 1990 | |
Act (determinations of spare capacity), | 25 |
in a manner that takes account of their duty under this section. | |
214 Licensing of the public teletext service | |
(1) The licence that is required for the purposes of section 13 of the 1990 Act in | |
respect of the public teletext service is a licence under Part 1 of that Act | |
complying with this section. | 30 |
(2) The licence— | |
(a) must be a licence which continues in force, from the time from which it | |
takes effect, until the end of the licensing period beginning or current | |
at that time; and | |
(b) shall be renewable, on one or more occasions, under section 217. | 35 |
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) a licensing period is— | |
(a) the period beginning with the commencement of this section and | |
ending with 31st December 2014; or | |
(b) any subsequent period of ten years beginning with the end of the | |
previous licensing period. | 40 |
(4) The licence must contain the conditions that OFCOM consider appropriate for | |
the purpose of performing their duty under section 255. | |
(5) The conditions of the licence must also include conditions prohibiting the | |
imposition, whether directly or indirectly, of any charges on persons in respect | |
of their reception in the United Kingdom of the licensed service. | 45 |
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(6) It shall be unlawful to impose a charge in contravention of a condition imposed | |
under subsection (5). | |
(7) The service authorised by a licence under this section, so far as it comprises a | |
service provided in digital form, is a qualifying service for the purposes of Part | |
1 of the 1996 Act. | 5 |
(8) Schedule 10 (which makes further provision about the award and grant of the | |
licence for the public teletext service and about the conditions and enforcement | |
of that licence) shall have effect. | |
215 Delegation of provision of public teletext service | |
(1) The licence for the provision of the public teletext service may— | 10 |
(a) include provision enabling the licence holder to authorise an eligible | |
person to provide the whole or a part of the public teletext service on | |
his behalf; and | |
(b) impose conditions subject to and in accordance with which the whole | |
or a part of that service may be provided by a person authorised by the | 15 |
licence holder. | |
(2) The conditions of the licence to provide the public teletext service apply in | |
relation to its provision by a person authorised to do so on the licence holder’s | |
behalf as they apply to its provision by the licence holder. | |
(3) A contravention of those conditions by a person so authorised shall be treated | 20 |
for the purposes of this Chapter and the 1990 Act as a contravention on the part | |
of the licence holder. | |
(4) In this section “eligible person” means a person who is not a disqualified | |
person under Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act in relation to the licence for | |
the public teletext service. | 25 |
216 Replacement of existing public teletext provider’s licence | |
(1) It shall be the duty of OFCOM to make an offer under this section to the person | |
who, when the offer is made, is the holder of the licence to provide the existing | |
service (the “existing licence”). | |
(2) The offer made to a person under this section— | 30 |
(a) must be an offer to exchange his existing licence for a replacement | |
licence; and | |
(b) must be made as soon as practicable after the television transfer date. | |
(3) The replacement licence is to be one which is granted— | |
(a) for the purposes of section 213 of this Act; and | 35 |
(b) in accordance with section 214 of this Act and the provisions of Part 1 | |
of the 1990 Act; | |
but Part 1 of Schedule 10 to this Act is not to apply in the case of the | |
replacement licence. | |
(4) Where OFCOM make an offer under this section, the service which they are | 40 |
proposing to license by or under the replacement licence must be a service | |
which comprises both— | |
(a) a service that appears to OFCOM to be equivalent in all material | |
respects to the existing service; and | |
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(b) a service that appears to them to be equivalent in all material respects | |
to the teletext service in digital form which that person is required to | |
provide by virtue of section 30 of the 1996 Act. | |
(5) The offer must propose the inclusion in the replacement licence of conditions as to the | |
payment of amounts to OFCOM which require the payment of— | 5 |
(a) the same amount in respect of each complete calendar year falling wholly or | |
partly within the period for which the replacement licence is in force, and | |
(b) an amount equal to the same percentage of the qualifying revenue for each | |
accounting period of the licence holder falling within that period, | |
as would have been payable under the existing licence had that licence continued in | 10 |
force until the end of the period for which the replacement licence is granted. | |
(6) That offer must also propose conditions allowing amounts paid for a period | |
under the existing licence to be set off against liabilities for the same period | |
arising under the replacement licence. | |
(7) An offer under this section must set out— | 15 |
(a) the terms of the proposed replacement licence; | |
(b) the conditions on which OFCOM are proposing to grant the | |
replacement licence; | |
(c) the period for which the offer is open; | |
(d) the time as from which it is proposed the replacement licence will take | 20 |
effect if the offer is accepted; and | |
(e) the time from which the existing licence will cease to have effect if the | |
offer is not accepted. | |
(8) The times set out under subsection (7) must— | |
(a) in the case of the time set out under paragraph (d), be in the period of | 25 |
twelve months beginning with the television transfer date; and | |
(b) in the case of the time set out under paragraph (e), be in the period of | |
eighteen months after the end of the period set out under paragraph (c) | |
of that subsection. | |
(9) Where the person to whom an offer has been made under this section elects, by | 30 |
notification to OFCOM, to exchange his licence for the replacement licence | |
offered to him— | |
(a) he is entitled to be granted the replacement licence in the terms, and on | |
the conditions, set out in the offer; and | |
(b) the replacement licence shall come into force, and the existing licence | 35 |
cease to have effect, at the time specified in the offer, or such later time | |
as OFCOM may, with the consent of that person, direct. | |
(10) Where the person to whom an offer has been made under this section— | |
(a) does not elect, during the period for which the offer is open, to | |
exchange the existing licence for the replacement licence, or | 40 |
(b) rejects the offer before the end of that period, | |
the existing licence shall have effect as if the period for which it is to continue | |
in force ended with the time specified in the offer for the purposes of | |
subsection (7)(e). | |
(11) In this section “the existing service” means the teletext service which— | 45 |
(a) is being provided immediately before the television transfer date on the | |
combined spare capacity available for the provision of additional | |
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(a) television services on frequencies on which Channel 3 services and | |
Channel 4 are provided; and | |
(b) is the service by reference to which the Independent Television | |
Commission have discharged their duty under section 49(2) of the 1990 | |
Act. | 5 |
(12) In this section “qualifying revenue” means the revenue which would be | |
qualifying revenue (within the meaning of section 52 of the 1990 Act) in | |
relation to the holder of a licence to provide the analogue teletext service | |
comprised in the public teletext service. | |
217 Renewal of public teletext licence | 10 |
(1) The holder of the licence to provide the public teletext service may apply to | |
OFCOM for the renewal of his licence for a period of ten years from the end of | |
the licensing period current at the time of the application. | |
(2) An application for renewal may only be made in the period which— | |
(a) begins four years before the end of the current licensing period; and | 15 |
(b) ends three months before the day that OFCOM have determined to be | |
the day by which they would need to publish a tender notice if they | |
were proposing to grant a fresh licence to take effect from the end of | |
that period. | |
(3) A determination for the purposes of subsection (2)(b)— | 20 |
(a) must be made at least one year before the day determined; and | |
(b) must be notified by OFCOM to the holder, at the time of the | |
determination, of the licence to provide the public teletext service. | |
(4) Where OFCOM receive an application under this section for the renewal of a | |
licence, they must— | 25 |
(a) decide whether they will be renewing the licence; | |
(b) if they decide that they will be, determine in accordance with section | |
218 the financial terms on which the licence will be renewed; and | |
(c) notify the applicant of their decision and determination. | |
(5) Section 17(5) to (7) of the 1990 Act (suspect sources of funds) apply in relation | 30 |
to an applicant for a renewal under this section as they apply in relation to an | |
applicant mentioned in section 17(5) of that Act, but as if— | |
(a) references to the award of a licence were references to its renewal; and | |
(b) the reference in subsection (7)(a) to section 19(1) of that Act were a | |
reference to paragraph 7 of Schedule 10. | 35 |
(6) OFCOM may decide not to renew the licence if they are not satisfied that the | |
applicant (if his licence were renewed) would provide a service complying | |
with the requirements imposed under Chapter 4 of this Part by conditions | |
relating to— | |
(a) the public service remit for the public teletext service; | 40 |
(b) news; and | |
(c) regional matters. | |
(7) OFCOM may also decide not to renew the licence if they propose to grant a | |
fresh licence for the public teletext service which would differ in any material | |
respect from the licensed service. | 45 |
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(8) In all cases in which— | |
(a) the applicant notifies OFCOM that he accepts the terms notified to him | |
under subsection (4)(c), and | |
(b) they are not required or allowed by subsections (5) to (7) to refuse a | |
renewal, | 5 |
they must grant the renewal as soon as reasonably practicable. | |
(9) But OFCOM must not grant a renewal under this section more than eighteen | |
months before the end of the licensing period from the end of which the | |
renewal will take effect. | |
(10) Where a licence is renewed under this section, it must be renewed on the same | 10 |
terms and conditions subject only to such modifications as are required to give | |
effect, in accordance with the determination under subsection (4)(b), to | |
paragraph 7 of Schedule 10. | |
(11) Nothing in this section requires OFCOM, following the receipt of an | |
application for the renewal of a licence— | 15 |
(a) to make a decision or determination, or | |
(b) to take any other step under this section, | |
at any time after an order under section 224 has come into force preventing the | |
renewal of the licence. | |
(12) For the purposes of this section a licensing period is— | 20 |
(a) the period beginning with the commencement of this section and | |
ending with 31st December 2014; or | |
(b) any subsequent period of ten years beginning with the end of the | |
previous licensing period. | |
(13) In this section “tender notice” means a notice under paragraph 1 of Schedule | 25 |
10. | |
218 Financial terms of licence renewed under s. 217 | |
(1) The determination under section 217(4)(b) must comprise— | |
(a) a determination of the amount which the holder of the renewed licence | |
will be required by the conditions of that licence to pay to OFCOM in | 30 |
respect of the first complete calendar year falling within the renewal | |
period; | |
(b) a determination of the percentage of qualifying revenue for each | |
accounting period of the licence holder falling within the renewal | |
period which he will be required by those conditions to pay to OFCOM. | 35 |
(2) The amount determined under subsection (1)(a) must be equal to the amount | |
which, in OFCOM’s opinion, would have been the cash bid of the licence | |
holder were the licence (instead of being renewed) to be granted for the period | |
of the renewal on an application made in accordance with Part 1 of Schedule | |
10. | 40 |
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b)— | |
(a) different percentages may be determined for different accounting | |
periods; and | |
(b) the percentages that may be determined for an accounting period | |
include a nil percentage. | 45 |
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