By Nikos Michalitsis, Former Chief Transmissions' Engineer of Greek Public Broadcaster ERT
The Greek government decided to shut down the public broadcaster ERT, on June 11th 2013. Despite international outrage, big private channels in Greece supported the government’s decision through news bulletins and informative shows. And that was not all. They offered technical support in order to efface the voice and the image of the free open ERT that has not stopped broadcasting to this day, thanks to the employees’ decision to not let it be silenced. Private channels technicians were present during police operations at ERT transmitters and at first turned them off and then helped broadcast a digital signal with vertical bars through two private providers, OTE (Organisation of Telecommunications) and Digea – Digital Provider Inc.
And the question arises if these private companies are in any way implicated in ERT’s shutdown.
The truth is that not only are they implicated but also they played an active role, especially Digea, in a government plan aiming to obtain absolute control of the broadcasting sector, the way the latter has been formed in the digital era.
What is Digea?
Digea’s main activity is to provide digital coding and broadcasting services for terrestrial digital television (Network Provider) and has been licensed by the Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission only for the first phase of digital switchover at 23 points in the Greek territory. Despite the fact that both European and Greek legislation (law 3592/2007) prohibits for a network provider to also be a content provider (namely a television station) in order to prevent any TV station from playing a ruling role in the market, Digea is a consortium of 6 private network stations holding equal shares. Powerful people who play an important role in Greek economy and deal with constructions, shipping companies and media groups, own these stations. In the past, they had been blamed by Greek prime ministers for using the power of their media groups to intertwine with politics in order to benefit their financial activities. To this day all Greek governments, despite their declarations about the disengagement from private channel owners, have made an alliance with them in exchange for the latter’s scandalous support to government politics, through their channels.
Digea shareholders are the following TV network stations
- MEGA, owned by Mr. Bobolas and Mr. Psycharis
- ANT1, owned by Mr. Kyriakou
- STAR, owned by Mr. Vardinogiannis
- SKAI, owned by Mr. Alafouzos
- ALPHA, owned Mr. Kontominas
- ΜΑCΕDΟΝΙΑ TV, owned by Mr. Kyriakou
It should be noted that none of the aforementioned stations has a legal license, given that the temporary license status approved by the Greek National Council for Radio and Television (ESR), has been ruled as illegal by Council of State’s decision 3578/2010.
The auction for digital television frequencies
The closure of ERT coincided with the consultations on the auction specifications for the digital television frequencies. The consultations ended on June 19th 2013 and according to Secretary General of Telecommunications of Development ministry, Mr. Men. Daskalakis, the auction will be announced by June 30th 2013.
According to the auction specifications (submitted for consultation before the closure of ERT) 2 frequencies are assigned to ERT (instead of the previous 3), 4 frequencies to national network providers (instead of the previous 2) and 2 frequencies to regional network providers. ERT is recognised by the law as a network provider and does not pay for the use of the public frequencies.
The 6 remaining frequencies (4 of national and 2 of regional range) are the ones to be auctioned. The state is supposed to obtain the largest possible profit by letting the frequencies to private companies for a period of 15 years, with an international competitive bidding.
So far, the only trouble seems to be ERT frequencies having been decreased to two instead of three.
“Auxiliary” sudden decisions
The fact that ERT was not to take part in the bidding does not mean that it should not have participated in the consultations. On the contrary, ERT is the only responsible entity to support the public interest. The sudden decision to shut down ERT prevented the public broadcaster from expressing its views even after its frequencies have been decreased and assigned to private network providers. The plan for ERT’s successor as described by the government (only one television channel) predisposes for a further decrease in the number of its frequencies to one, in favour of private stations. It also responds to the private TV stations demand for a setback of the public broadcaster and the elimination of ERT High Definition channel. A channel many private interests have been against contrary to the audience who welcomed it enthusiastically.
Auxiliary “omissions”
A strange “omission” in specifications makes it certain that Digea will be the ultimate bidder. Greece is the only country in the world where an auction is announced for a network provider (that will offer technical broadcasting services) to obtain a license, without its costumers, namely the content providers (television stations), having obtained a license first. Any serious company wanting to invest in our country would need first to buy the frequencies from the state in order to sell them to television stations. The problem is that it would not find a single legal client. And this is not all. It would also encounter a competitor company established by its six biggest clients.
Have those, who originally set the specifications, ever heard of “imperfect competition”? I guess not. We hope that they will not ignore the majority of answers at the consultations that pinpoint the strange omission and declare it incompatible for the network provider to be a content provider at the same time.
Let us make certain we have no competitors
But these are not the only impediments to the participation of any other company. Specifications include a timetable for transmitter installation at 156 transmission centers(pages 45-49), with the provision of 5 transmitters installation at every center, in other words a total of 780 transmitters. The timetable realization should start by September 30th 2013 the latest and finish by September 30th 2014. Authorization for antenna systems at the 156 transmission centers should start at the same time, but it is an extremely time-consuming process. Other impediments are included in the specifications, especially for new providers. They need to have developed the network at all transmission centers where ERT has a presence (p. 43) within 3 months of having obtained the authorization.
Divergence of the timetable is not accepted.
Let us suppose a company wants to participate in the bidding announced on June 30th. The results will be made known by the end of August. Within a month it should have be assigned 156 antenna systems and set up 780 transmitters in a year time etc.
These specifications can only be fulfilled by a company that is certain of winning the bidding and would have been adequately prepared.
The closure of ERT ensures that it cannot correspond to such a timetable that demands for preparations. Thus, ERT, or its successor, is out of the “frequencies game” and its own frequencies and network are allotted to private companies.
It should be pointed out that the only companies that asked for the consultation answers to be confidential and for their content not to be published were Digea and OTE (Deutsche Telekom). These two companies support the government to broadcast a signal with bars, as a rival to open ERT. Perhaps, this is a good way for them to go to the auction.
Let us make certain of the result by a photographic proclamation
Pre-selection criteria for the participation are to be found on page 71 of specifications. The first two criteria concerning financial and technical adequacy are correct. But what about the third one?
“The ability of digital switchover management and the capacity to inform the public”
In other words, it sets marketing for the digital switchover as a criterion according to which a contestant (especially in Greece) might be eliminated. As if other companies are not able to design an advertising campaign.
We want it all…
Now that we know that the network is ours let us take all frequencies instead of letting them be assigned to more than one companies.
The writer of specifications takes care of that:
On pages 60-64, we read in short the following reasoning:
If the cost for a frequency amounts to a and 4 different frequencies are assigned to 4 different providers, then the total cost amounts to 4a. If the frequencies are assigned to one provider, due to massive orders, the cost will be drop (2.2a). This thought is correct, and is the main argument used by monopolies. The only objection is that this argument can be used by the buyer and not by the seller, namely the Greek state, that should be more interested in gaining the largest profit possible by encouraging healthy competition. This thought is being expounded on and provides for 5 frequencies to be assigned to the same contractor (4 of national and 1 of regional range). In case bidding for the one remaining regional frequency is without result, the frequency is assigned to the contractor of the other ones at the starting price (and not at the price offered). In other words, an absolute monopoly.
That is why the statement of Regional Channels Union denounces the indirect financial coercion aiming at the closure of all regional channels and at Digea getting all available frequencies after ERT’s disbandment.
The final facilitations
Now that the monopolistic control over frequencies is ensured, the contractor’s cost should be reduced. The population coverage of the 156 transmission centers is estimated to 96.2%. What if 300 more centers were needed for the rest of the population? Who is to pay the cost that should have burdened the contractor?
The formula is a well-known one and has been put to practice many times in the last years. We roll over the cost that should be paid by the private contractor (Digea) to the Greek citizens. On page 43 of specifications it is written that the contractor has the obligation to cooperate with local administration organizations that would be willing to shoulder the cost of the necessary transmitters!
At another point it obliges ERT to share the antenna systems masts with the private contractor!
Requiem…
One may well wonder what all the aforementioned facts aim at.
It is well known that Digea shareholders have offered their support to all Greek governments and their policies, especially during the last years of memorandums and austerity. The rewards for their loyal services are known and concern their financial activities. That is a fact stigmatized by most of the Greek prime ministers, usually at the beginning of their term of office, to be “forgotten” soon afterwards.
Nowadays, that people seek to listen to a critical voice on the television, there could be television stations free from the 5 big channel owners’ control. The monopolistic control of the broadcasting network offers the government and the big channel owners the ability to put a stop to such phenomena, preventing disturbing content to be on air.
Whoever believes that the network provider has no right to control the content, needs only be reminded of what has been happening these past few days to television stations that dare transmit open ERT’s programme. Within 20 seconds, Digea (following government’s orders as admitted) punished the station, replacing its programme with bars.
Only consider the possibility of Digea’s obtaining the only available license for 15 years and instead of ERT for a parody of the once “Armed Forces Channel” (YENED) to be broadcasted.
The auction should not take place under these conditions.
Otherwise, democracy will suffer another severe blow.
