Italia halts free TV frequency licenses

Rome-- Italia, inside a move that reps a blow for Mediaset, the television empire of former premier Silvio Berlusconi, has frozen intends to license new digital TV wavelengths free of charge.The lately installed Italo government, headed by technocrat Mario Monti, on Friday made the decision to suspend "for 3 monthsInch a so-known as "beauty contest" tender to award new DTT wavelengths, which in fact had formerly made the decision through the Berlusconi government.That tender, to which wavelengths were designated free of charge, only to tv stations dedicated to massive opportunities, had belong to attack by experts declaring it preferred incumbents, including Mediaset.Mediaset, that is Italy's top commercial broadcaster, inside a statament blasted your decision, protecting the "beauty contest" as "absolutely legitimate" and vowed to do something to help keep that old rules. But Industry minister Corrado Passera indicated Friday the government, pressurized to boost cash, has become prone to scrap it. "The wonder contest was selected within an economical and social context not the same as the present one," he stated. "At any given time once the government is asking sacrifices from the people - and also, since TV wavelengths really are a scarce and precious resource - we're taking a while to locate solutions which are more coherent using the growth, equity and austerity plan of the government." In September, Italy's previous government stated 10 companies, including Rupert Murdoch's Sky Italia, had requested one frequency band within the contest. But Sky Italia drawn out recently, stating a convoluted procedure that preferred existing gamers. Italo merchant bank Mediobanca has believed when the federal government decides to auction the DTT licenses it might raise as much as $2 billion. Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com