Newsletter
FTC SANCTION AGAINST A MAJOR CABLE TV SYSTEM OPERATOR OVERRULED
After heated acquisitions by the two major domestic cable TV groups, Eastern Multimedia Group and Koo's Group, to expand their cable TV markets resulted in interrupted broadcasting last year, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed an administrative fine of NT$3.2 million on Eastern Multimedia Group for failing to apply for an approval for combination before acquiring the cable television system of other operators. However, the Administrative Appeals Committee, Executive Yuan, revoked the fine on the grounds that the definition of the relevant market needs to be further clarified. The FTC has recently notified Eastern Multimedia Group for refund of the fine.
The FTC, however, said that it is currently studying how to delineate the cable TV or fixed-network telecommunications market. At the same time as they are aggressively building cable TV systems, domestic cable TV groups are also promoting the laying of fiber-optical coaxial cables with the intention of making inroads into the fixed-network telecommunications market. Given the scale of enormous capital investment and economy of scale requirements of the fixed-network telecommunications market, there is a definite need to allow cross-region operations. The FTC intends to further ascertain operational patterns in this market as a basis for deciding whether to permit cable TV operators to carry out upstream-downstream or horizontal integration.