The Italian authority for the Guarantee in the Communications denounces the duopoly that form the chains RAI and Mediaset in the Italian televising panorama and announces measures to balance the market

A report of this organism in charge to guarantee the televising competition that it condemns what considers harmful positions for pluralism that maintain both groups.

The president of the Authority, Enzo Cheli, has assured that as much RAI as Mediaset will have to implant a series changes so that the composition of the market is not repeated in the new market of the digital television. Between the measures to avoid it is the obligation to accelerate the digitalization of the terrestrial televising networks, which includes the transformation to this technology of the analogical equipment that follows assets.

The digitalization plan must be presented/displayed to the organism for the Competition before the 30 of June of this year. In addition, the Authority has remembered both groups of the obligation to destine 40% of its capacity of digital transmission to suppliers of independent contents until it concludes the plan of frequency allocation in digital technique.

Public chain RAI owns three channels, the same that Mediaset, the communications group property of prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. (Canale 5, Challenges 4 and Italy 1), and so they enjoy a dominant position that already has been denounced sometimes previous by the responsible authority of the competition.

(Agencies, 03-03-05)