Brussels, 02/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - As planned, the Commission has authorised under condition and after a detailed enquiry the merger between Stream, a pay-TV company jointly owned by the Newscorp group and Telecom Italia, and Telepiù, another pay-TV company owned by Vivendi Universal (France), but acquired by Newscorp. The agreement reached provides for the new company to be held by Newscorp with Telecom Italia holding a minor stake not to exceed 19.9%. Commissioner Monti emphasised the fact that it had been a tough decision, because the operation will create a quasi-monopoly on the Italian pay-TV market. Had the merger not taken place, the announced closure of Stream, which, like Telepiù, had never been profitable, but would have disappeared to the benefit of the latter, which was more firmly embedded, would have given Telepiù the monopoly, and so joining the two players was judged preferable. However, the Commission imposed strict conditions before giving its go-ahead, so that the market remains open and e.Biscom (a cable operator with some capacity resources), future Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT) broadcasters, satellite TV channels and possibly a future satellite platform can exercise competition pressure in the future. In order to create these conditions, the parties agreed that blockbuster films and football matches, available by subscription from pay-TV, will be available on the market under free competition conditions. Newscorp will also give up its exclusive rights on contents for transmission other than by satellite. Access to content will be facilitated also for potential satellite competitors by allowing rights owners to unilaterally terminate their ongoing contracts with the combined platform and by limiting the duration of contracts Newscorp will also grant rival satellite operators access to its platform and offer them associated services under reasonable conditions, obviating their need to set up their own platform, which could have constituted an obstacle to their entry onto the market. Lastly, Newscorp has promised to give up Telepiù's Digital Terrestrial Transmission and analogue activities and not undertake any new DTT activities to create a favourable environment for competition.