Brussels, 20/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Friday the Commission decided to grant the referral requested by the Spanish Competition Authorities with regard to the integration of the two satellite digital television platforms operating in Spain. The operation consists of a request for Merger Regulation clearance for the Vía Digital ( the second pay TV operator in Spain controlled by Telefónica and shareholder consortiums), in Sogecable S.A (the dominant pay TV operator in Spain, controlled jointly by the Spanish media group Prisa, which publishes "El País", and Groupe Canal + S.A.),by way of exchange of shares. The Commission believes that given that the operation threatens to bring about anti-competitive effects in a number of markets within Spain, it will therefore be better if it is assessed by the Spanish authorities. They will have four months in which to reach a decision on the matter.
On July 3, the Commission received a notification from the two companies requesting clearance for the merger, in which Sgecabl would still be controlled by Prisa and Canal+, while Telefónica (which controls Via Digital) would hold a significant participation in the merged entity. On 12 July, the Spanish government requested the Commission to refer the case to its competition authorities on the basis that the merger threatens to create a dominant position impeding competition in distinct markets within Spain. The Commission's review of the case confirmed that the concentration would threaten market competition with regard to: 1) pay TV, where the two parties are currently the two largest competitors and have combined market shares of around 80% (in terms of number of subscribers) and 80-95% in terms of sales; 2) acquisition of exclusive rights for premium films; 3) acquisition and exploitation of football matches in which Spanish teams; 4) the sale of TV channels. The Commission also concluded that the creation of a structural link between the two operators risked strengthening Telefónica's dominant position in a number of telecommunication markets.