|
| |
| |
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. | |
(2) The licence— | 5 |
(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. | |
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) a licensing period is— | 10 |
(a) the period beginning with the commencement of this section and | |
ending with the initial expiry date; or | |
(b) any subsequent period of ten years beginning with the end of the | |
previous licensing period. | |
(4) The licence must contain the conditions that OFCOM consider appropriate for | 15 |
the purpose of performing their duty under section 256. | |
(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. | |
(6) It shall be unlawful to impose a charge in contravention of a condition imposed | 20 |
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. | |
(8) Schedule 10 (which makes further provision about the award and grant of the | 25 |
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— | |
(a) include provision enabling the licence holder to authorise an eligible | 30 |
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 | |
licence holder. | 35 |
(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 | |
for the purposes of this Chapter and the 1990 Act as a contravention on the part | 40 |
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. | |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
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— | 5 |
(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 | 10 |
(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 | 15 |
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 | |
(b) a service that appears to them to be equivalent in all material respects | 20 |
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— | |
(a) the same amount in respect of each complete calendar year falling | 25 |
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 | 30 |
continued in 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. | 35 |
(7) An offer under this section must set out— | |
(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; | 40 |
(d) the time as from which it is proposed the replacement licence will take | |
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— | 45 |
(a) in the case of the time set out under paragraph (d), be in the period of | |
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 | |
notification to OFCOM, to exchange his licence for the replacement licence | 5 |
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 | |
cease to have effect, at the time specified in the offer, or such later time | 10 |
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 | |
(b) rejects the offer before the end of that period, | 15 |
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— | |
(a) is being provided immediately before the television transfer date on the | 20 |
combined spare capacity available for the provision of additional | |
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 | 25 |
Act. | |
(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. | 30 |
217 Renewal of public teletext licence | |
(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— | 35 |
(a) begins four years before the end of the current licensing period; and | |
(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. | 40 |
(3) A determination for the purposes of subsection (2)(b)— | |
(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 | 45 |
licence, they must— | |
| |
| |
|
| |
| |
(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 | 5 |
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. | 10 |
(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; | 15 |
(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. | 20 |
(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, | 25 |
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 | 30 |
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— | 35 |
(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 225 has come into force preventing the | |
renewal of the licence. | |
(12) For the purposes of this section a licensing period is— | 40 |
(a) the period beginning with the commencement of this section and | |
ending with the initial expiry date; 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 | 45 |
10. | |
| |
| |
|
