Foxtel Wants Rules For The Internet
The Age
Friday March 10, 2006
JUST in case media reforms and daily battles with Telstra weren't enough to keep Communications Minister Helen Coonan busy, Foxtel chief executive Kim Williams yesterday put another item on her agenda: internet regulation.
The rapid take-up of broadband has some television executives concerned because it allows consumers to download films or TV shows directly from a web-site, circumventing TV operators altogether. At the same time, there is nothing to stop a broadband provider from bidding for and winning exclusive sports rights. Telstra's BigPond division launched a movie download service last month and other companies such as ReelTime are following close on its heels. Mr Williams insisted that broadband was an opportunity, not a threat, but he expressed concerned about the lack of regulation for providers. "Broadband has none of the content regulations we have," he told an Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association conference yesterday. "There is no regulatory impediment to broadband taking out a whole football code's content exclusively, and in its entirety." Mr Williams said the internet was the "fastest-expanding force in home entertainment", referring to statistics showing that in the US, those aged 12 to 24 now spend 25 per cent more time on the internet than watching TV. In Australia, the number of pay TV subscribers grew by 6.3 per cent to 1.69 million last year, while broadband customer numbers surged by more than 80 per cent to 1.67 million. And yet despite its dramatic growth, "to all intents and purposes it is, other than for some censorship issues, unregulated," Mr Williams said. Foxtel, which became profitable for the first time in its 10-year history in January, is launching its own broadband offering later this year. Telstra, Foxtel's major investor, is prohibited from offering services that compete directly with the pay TV operator under their shareholder agreement.
© 2006 The Age
