Report clears RTÉ of being anti-competitive

RTÉ has been cleared of using its licence fee income to obtain an unfair advantage over other broadcasters and of using it to distort the advertising market.

An independent report commissioned by the Government, which was published yesterday, has found no evidence to suggest the national broadcaster has used revenue from licence fees to behave in an anti-competitive manner.

The latest review was carried out as a condition of the Government’s decision to award RTÉ a €2 increase in licence fee to €152 in December 2003. Such revenue accounts for around 50% of RTÉ’s total income, which amounted to €312 million last year.