The Government guarantees that as soon as it has in its possession the reports of the public consultation on the DTT process, it will proceed with the process. «It is time for us to evolve in this process and end a cycle,» said Paulo Campos, deputy secretary of state for public works and communications, this morning at the APDC Congress.
The official stressed the urgency of the government to continue the process of launching the tender, which, however, he assumed, will not advance until 2008. «It is time for the different stakeholders in the process to complete the ongoing analyzes», he stressed.
Paulo Campos added that 23 entities responded to the public consultation process and pointed out a set of general concerns raised by interested parties. Among the main concerns of the entities that responded to the consultation is the future use of the remaining spectrum capacity, which will be free with the end of analog television. The government guarantees that the question will be answered before the contest moves forward.
Another issue raised in the consultation has to do with the business model and service prices. The government responds by saying that this is an issue that will have to be highlighted by competitors in the proposals and that it will later be supervised by regulators.
PT’s eligibility to participate in the contest was another topic addressed by Paulo Campos, who without referring directly to the incumbent considered that the rules are clear, at the level of companies qualified to participate in the contest. «Whoever fulfills the set of defined rules can participate».
The criteria for evaluating the tender proposals were another topic of concern for the entities that expressed their opinion in the consultation. Paulo Campos replies that a multi-criteria evaluation model will be used, which will be known before the tender progresses.
Finally, the Secretary of State mentioned the concerns of the companies regarding the coverage objectives that the draft regulation defines for Multiplex B to F, to consider that the Government was sensitive to the arguments presented and is considering revising this point, when it has in possession of the consultation report. The exclusion criteria that are now foreseen for non-compliance with these targets will be rethought.
«2008 is the year to close a cycle and enter another cycle», he reinforced. The official guarantees that, once the issue of DTT is resolved, the Government’s concerns will focus on Mobile Tv and next generation networks, guaranteeing the conditions for the necessary investments to happen.
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