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Doyle blasts NTL over rollout failures
Tuesday, October 01 2002
by Matthew Clark


NTL's licence to operate MMDS in Ireland could be under threat after the telecoms
regulator issued a warning to the firm for failing to roll out a type of digital
TV. 

NTL agreed in 1999 to roll out a type of wireless digital television called MMDS
to at least 62,000 homes in Dublin, Waterford, Galway and West Mayo by 01 January
2001 as part of the terms of its licence. NTL is now 21 months overdue in
providing that service. 



Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service, or MMDS, is a broadcasting and
communications standard that operates in the ultra-high-frequency (UHF) portion
of the radio spectrum between 2.1 and 2.7 GHz. MMDS, sometimes called "wireless
cable," offers providers and users enough bandwidth to cram several dozen
analogue or digital video channels, along with narrowband channels, into one
frequency for the broadcasting of TV. 



Moreover MMDS could be used for telecommunications and Internet services. The
technology is thought to have considerable future potential because of the
telecoms deregulation that has given firms like NTL the ability to sell phone and
Web services to consumers. 





The ODTR said that it has been in "intensive ongoing discussion" with NTL for
almost two years about the lack of MMDS rollout, with seemingly little progress.
"The situation is now intolerable and I am calling on NTL to specifically state
publicly by 15 October 2002 by what means and when these viewers will have a full
digital service," regulator Etain Doyle said in a statement on Tuesday. "Failure
by NTL to provide the necessary clarity by this date will result in my Office
taking whatever steps are appropriate under the regulations." 



NTL declined to comment on the ODTR's statement, but it said it will make an
announcement on 15 October. It is thought that NTL's other TV broadcasting
licences are not threatened by the ODTR's warning. 



The regulator's "appropriate" steps remain unclear, but under Regulations 18
and 19 of the Wireless Telegraphy (Programme Services Distribution) Regulations
1999 the ODTR has the power to suspend or revoke NTL's MMDS licence.
Alternatively, the regulator could decide to amend the terms of the licence. 





The ODTR also revealed that NTL has in fact been looking to sell its MMDS
division and over the past few months the company had given the regulator's
office continual reassurances in relation to this sale. "These reassurances
have yet to materialise," the ODTR said.