Italy to put DTT allocation on hold

The Italian government is expected this morning to cancel the ‘beauty contest’ that would have allocated new digital-terrestrial TV frequencies under plans brought forward by the former administration.

Development minister Corrado Passera is expected to put plans to allocate the frequencies on hold until the government has conducted a full analysis of how the frequencies should be used.

News Corp-backed pay TV operator Sky Italia pulled out of the competition to acquire new DTT slots in December, alleging that the process was biased. Under the beauty contest plan, Mediaset, controlled by the family of former prime minster Silvio Berlusconi, had expected to be awarded two of the best slots.