Major blow to plans for commercial digital TV

PLANS for the introduction of commercial digital TV in Ireland have suffered a major setback after it was confirmed that the consortium which had won three licences to provide digital terrestrial television will not proceed with its plans to launch a service this year.

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland said yesterday that Boxer DTT — a company jointly owned by Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp group and Swedish DTT operator, Boxer — had withdrawn its application to run the 12-year multiplex contracts due to the economic circumstances, as well as difficulties in reaching an agreement with RTÉ Networks for the provision of transmission services.

The commission said it had approached the second-placed of three consortia which had applied for the licences in a public competition last year.