Canal Plus attacks CSA digital-terrestrial demands
French pay-TV operator Canal Plus has filed a complaint with the countrys Council of State about media regulator the CSAÂs demand that pay-TV services on the countryÂs digital-terrestrial platform must commit to transmitting from 1,423 sites by 2011, of which Canal Plus only uses 230 for its analogue service.
The countryÂs free-to-air channels, TF1, M6 and France Télévisions three channels, must broadcast from 1,626 sites, covering 91% of the population of each of FranceÂs departments, according to the CSA.
According to French newspaper La Tribune, this goes further than the law covering the digital-terrrestrial network, which mandates coverage of 95% of the countryÂs population as a whole. However, French Senator Bruno Retailleau last week successfully put forward an amendment to a law covering the countryÂs digital divide giving the CSA powers to set minimum coverage at the level of the departments.Â