The Office of the
Adjudicator
Broadcast Transmission Services
Latest Report
Office of
the Adjudicator – Broadcast Transmission Services -
Report for the period 1 July 2024 – 30 September
2024
Latest consultation
Consultation
1/2024: Operating Budget for The Office of the
Adjudicator - Broadcast Transmission Services
Welcome to the website of the Office of the Adjudicator,
Broadcast Transmission Services. This website describes
the function of the Adjudicator, the process to be
followed when requesting an Adjudication and Guidance
documents on the setting of Reference Offers.
Purpose of the Office
On 11 March 2008, the Competition Commission (CC)
announced its decision to allow the merger of transmission
companies Arqiva and National Grid Wireless (NGW) subject
to the agreement of a package of measures (undertakings)
to protect the interests of their customers.
Arqiva and NGW overlap in the provision of Managed
Transmission Services (MTS) and Network Access (NA) to
transmitter sites and associated facilities for
terrestrial television and radio broadcasters. In its
final report, the CC found that Arqiva and NGW were the
only active providers of MTS/NA to the UK television
broadcasters. The companies were also the most significant
providers of national MTS/NA to UK radio broadcasters with
a combined market share of more than 85%. In both cases,
prior to merger, the companies had exercised a competitive
constraint on each other.
The CC concluded the merger of the two companies
would lead to a “substantial lessening” of competition
in broadcast transmission services. The CC
found the loss of rivalry between Arqiva and NGW would
lead to a worsening in the price and non-price factors on
which the parties compete in the provision of MTS/NA to
television and radio broadcasters.
After formal and informal consultation by the CC with
Arqiva, its customers and other stakeholders, the
Commission accepted undertakings from Arqiva on 1
September [http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402141250/http:/www.competition-commission.org.uk/inquiries/ref2007/macquarie/pdf/notice_undertakings.pdf].
The undertakings are intended to, amongst other things,
adequately protect existing and new customers over the
terms and conditions of supply, including protection
against future price rises and protection against changes
in non-price related clauses (such as discrimination
issues and service standards).
The definitive document on the obligations placed on
Arqiva and the responsibilities and powers of the
Adjudicator is the Undertakings agreed between Arqiva and
the CC. This document summarises the general principles
and processes that will be followed in resolving disputes.
In order to meet this aims of the Undertakings, the
Adjudication regime needs to be efficient, effective and
sufficiently flexible to respond to changes in the market
and/or customer requirements. Therefore several key
objectives need to be considered, and at times potentially
balanced against one another:
- providing certainty (as regards to the application of
the undertakings) and transparency for customers;
- encouraging the commercial negotiation of contracts on
a bilateral basis;
- providing customers with an accessible and
uncomplicated dispute resolution process where
commercial negotiations fail;
- a flexible approach to determining disputes in
accordance with FRND and cost oriented principles; and
- quality decision making in a timely manner.
Key aspects of the Adjudicator’s role:
- The Adjudicator is responsible for:
- Dispute resolution
- Issuing guidance to Arqiva, which is published for
the benefit of customers on (a) the approach to
setting charges for new transmission/NA agreements
and sale of MTS assets and (b) on the application of
the undertakings and adjudication process
- Provision of periodic reports to Ofcom and the OFT
- Ensuring that costs incurred by Arqiva in Digital
Switchover are correctly recorded and conducting
regular audits of this expenditure
- Requiring Arqiva to provide reference offers
- Ensuring that Arqiva maintains and enforces a
Security Strategy to manage the flow of commercial
information within the company
- Ensuring Arqiva provides transparency in the
calculation of its changes and that these changes
are cost-orientated
- The decision of the Adjudicator is binding on a
dispute and not subject to a merits-based appeal
- The guidance on the undertakings issued by the
Adjudicator to Arqiva will not be unduly prescriptive.
In the interests of efficiency the Adjudicator has the
flexibility to apply an appropriate methodology as he
sees fit, to ensure that the principles of FRND and cost
orientation are applied to contractual terms
- Moreover the Adjudicator has the flexibility to use as
much and as wide-ranging information as appropriate when
determining the outcome of disputes
- The Adjudicator is expected to take account of Ofcom’s
sectoral regulation when making decisions in order to
promote consistency
- The adjudication process should be seen by Arqiva and
its customers as a fall-back option; customers are
expected to first undertake bilateral negotiations with
Arqiva on a good faith basis with a view to entering
into commercially negotiated contracts. Only where a
satisfactory agreement cannot be reached should
customers then turn to the dispute process. The
Adjudicator has the right to resolve disputes only where
it can be proven that reasonable attempts have been
made, without success, to negotiate terms commercially
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