CSA activity in 2006

1. Digital Terrestrial Television Deployed
2. The Geneva Regional Radiocommunication Conference
3. Optimising Spectrum Management: 20% More Frequencies for the First 6 Open FM Calls for Tender
4. Preparing the Launch of Digital Radio
5. The First Review on the Representation of Diversity, Origins and Culture on Television and the Radio
6. The Council’s Recommendation in view of the French Presidential Elections
7. Developments in European Regulations in the Audiovisual Field

 Digital Terrestrial Television Deployed

All throughout Year 2006, the Council continued the deployment of digital terrestrial television (TNT), kicked off in March 2005. With the commissioning of the first series of new broadcast units in June, then the second in October, and finally two sites in December, TNT coverage was able to reach 65% of the Mainland population at the end of the year.

The Council looked into a number of changes regarding authorisation-holding services. For instance, it was referred to on two occasions by the heads of pay-TV channel AB1, whose requests for permission to broadcast free-to-air segments were rejected both times.

Similarly, in addition to the opinion it handed down to the Competition Council on the planned merger between TPS Star and Canal+ as part of the proceedings required to control economic consolidation, CSA was called upon to look at the consequences of the said operation on the authorisations granted to Canal+, in light of the provisions specific to audiovisual law.
As 2006 came to a close, it had not yet issued its opinion.

With experience, the five-multiplex arrangement used to broadcast TNT did not turn out to be very well-suited to the situation, in particular with regard to the deployment of local television. After looking at the various scenarios, the Council decided to go ahead with a limited modification of multiplex arrangement. Three services were shifted in order to open Multiplex R1 up to local private channels and France 3’s regional stations. A few months were granted to the editorial heads and multiplex operators to complete the undertakings required for the reorganisation.

After scrutinising the 35 contributions to public consultation that it opened in October 2005 on the matter, the Council launched, on 25 July 2006, a call for applications with a view toward authorising local digital television in the Paris region on one multiplex’s four channels. The call brought in 30 applications, 29 of which were declared eligible.

As concerns high-definition digital terrestrial television, which makes it possible to view very high-quality images, the Council approved two experimental projects and launched a public consultation process intended to specify the technical and economic conditions of a future call for tenders.

The possibility of receiving television services on a personal mobile device also opens up promising prospects. There too, the Council, anticipating a future call for tenders, approved two experimental projects in Second Half 2006 and prepared the launch of a public consultation, scheduled for early-2007.

 The Geneva Regional Radiocommunication Conference

From 15 May to 16 June 2006, the Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC) was held in Geneva. Its aim was to organise, across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the hertzian broadcasting landscape in view of the day when analogue will have died out. In total, 119 of the International Telecommunication Union’s 189 members took part, for five weeks straight, in the final phase of negotiations underway since 2004. The previous conference of the same kind was held in 1961, in Stockholm, to prepare the launch of colour Analogue television.

In Geneva, the French delegation was led by the head of the National Frequencies Agency and included, in particular, ten CSA representatives. The work it carried out helped fulfil all of the objectives set out, now giving a long-term outlook to the deployment of digital networks, whether for radio, television or new services.

Spectrum coordination across the borders of a country requires in-depth discussion, channel by channel with all neighbouring countries. In France’s case, some twenty sovereign States were involved. Establishing a plan that is acceptable to all parties becomes a huge puzzle. In Geneva, the plan came out as a series of reciprocal agreements on 2 113 frequencies in France, out of a total of 78 000 frequencies coordinated for conference participants.

 Optimising Spectrum Management: 20% More Frequencies for the First 6 Open FM Calls for Tender

After two years of in-depth research and coordination with radio operators on how to optimise spectrum management, in the FM 2006 Working Group, CSA came up with a timetable, in late-2005, for the so-called “general” calls for tender. The calls covered around 1 600 frequencies, on which usage authorisations will come to term between 2006 and 2008, or 57% of the total number of frequencies assigned to private radio.

During Year 2006, the six first call processes scheduled were launched under the respective responsibility of the Technical Radio Committees of Marseille (Corsica Region), Toulouse (Languedoc-Roussillon Region), Rennes, Bordeaux, Paris and Clermont-Ferrand. The optimisation work carried out by the Council’s Technologies Division made it possible to free up 431 new frequencies, for all of the plans established during the calls. This figure was 20% higher than that recorded under the plans previously in effect.

 Preparing the Launch of Digital Radio

On 17 January 2006, the Council published a summary of the 47 contributions received as part of the public consultation it launched on 22 April 2005, regarding digital broadcasting of radio services. Through the consultation, it was able to gather the opinion of professionals in the sector and identify three avenues for reflection, relating to: the technological framework likely to be selected; the different business models and types of use found in digital technology; and possible deployment scenarios.

The Council then undertook a technical study on the options for using Band III for digital radio. The study demonstrated that, while it is possible to operate three frequencies across most of the nation, such a system would be impossible to implement along the borders.

Following up on the first consultation, a second one was opened on 3 October 2006, and dealt with the launch procedures for digital radio on a special terrestrial network, on Bands III and L. It is intended to take in comments from professionals, both on technical aspects and on resource allocation procedures, in view of the migration of all radio operators to Analogue digital technology.

Throughout the year, approval was given to a variety of radio broadcast experiments using most existing digital technologies: DAB, DMB, DRM, Iboc, etc.

From October on, the Council began the digital radio frequency planning process, with a view toward issuing calls for tender.

 The First Review on the Representation of Diversity, Origins and Culture on Television and the Radio

For many years now, CSA has made one of its concerns the issue of how diversity in ethnic origin and culture is represented on television. To wit, it introduced, into the agreements signed with private channels, first the analogue channels, then the digital ones, and lastly cable and satellite TV, a provision under which the channels were asked to ensure that the diversity of French society was well-represented on the air.

However, for lack of a legal framework giving it power over all audiovisual media – whether public or private – the Council was not able to carry out harmonised action. The 31 March 2006 Equal Opportunity Act added on to what is stated in Article 3-1 of the 30 September 1986 Act on freedom of communication, which sets out the role and duties of CSA. The article now includes a clause, according to which: “Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel contributes to action in favour of social cohesion and anti-discrimination in the field of audiovisual communication. It ensures, in particular, through interaction with radio and television editorial services, that, taking into account the nature of their programmes, programming reflects the diversity of French society.”

Pursuant to the above provisions, the Council published, on 10 November 2006, after having provided it to the President of the French Republic, its first overall review on how diversity, origins and cultures are represented on television and the radio, dealing with Year 2005.

The review focuses on how broadcasters ensured effective representation, offering a summary based on the written reports they provided to the Council.

 The Council’s Recommendation in view of the French Presidential Elections

On 7 November 2006, the Council adopted a recommendation regarding the French Presidential Elections in May 2007, addressing it to all public and private radio and television stations.

The rules set out in the recommendation came into effect as early as 1 December 2006 – as opposed to 1 January, as was the case, in particular with the presidential elections of 1995 and 2002 – and expired after the second and final round of voting, on 6 May 2007.

The text drew, primarily, on previous recommendations of the same kind, with rules applying solely to election-related news, all other comments remaining subject, where the count was concerned, to the reference principle customarily enforced by the Council.

One major innovation deserves to be emphasised, however. The election timeline was divided into three distinct periods, as opposed to two, previously:

• The “preliminary” period (from 1 December 2006 to the day preceding the publication of the list of candidates established by the Constitutional Council). During this first stage, the operators were required to allocate the declared or assumed candidates equitable speaking and air time and, thus, access to air time in line with their renown, influence, representativeness and campaigning activities;

• The “intermediate” period (from the publication date of the list of candidates established by the Constitutional Council to the day prior to the campaign’s official opening, on 8 April 2007). The designated candidates from each political group in the running, along with their supporters, then became subjected to the principle of equity on air time, as well as equality in speaking time;

• The campaign period (starting from the opening of the campaign, on 9 April 2007 to the second round of the vote, on 6 May 2007). During this last and decisive period, the operators were required to comply with the principle of equality in terms of speaking and air time, for all candidates, in their news programmes. In other programmes, the principle of equality also applied, but only to the candidates’ speaking time.

The recommendation applied to all television and radio stations, regardless of the broadcasting media. However, the Council decided that, taking into account their unique characteristics, the services accessible only by Internet should be exempt from these rules, when provided through means other than bouquets of channels dedicated to electoral propaganda for candidates or political parties and groupings supporting them.

 Developments in European Regulations in the Audiovisual Field

Started in 2003, the work conducted to revise the European Directive Television without Borders, in which CSA participates, has been continuing since that time.

Over the course of Year 2006, the Commission’s proposal, subject to the joint decision-making procedure, was examined concurrently by the Council of Europe and European Parliament.

At the Council of Europe, an agreement reconciling the often-diverging requests of Member States and extending the scope of the Directive received the support of a majority of the delegations, on 13 November 2006. On that same day, a report was adopted by the European Parliament’s Commission, then put up for ratification at the 13 December 2006 plenary session. The positions adopted by the European Parliament are, in most cases, close to those of the European Council.

Notwithstanding, certain important issues, like those regarding local powers and methods for circumventing the law, the loosening of regulations regarding advertising and the lack of harmonised regulations as regards product placement, have still not been able to be settled in a satisfactory manner.

Moreover, in a statement adopted on 28 June 2006, the European Commission launched a public consultation regarding the future of the regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services. The main changes suggested by the Commission and likely to affect audiovisual regulations pertained, first, to improving the efficiency of telecommunications market regulations from the administrative standpoint, including the wholesale market on radio broadcasting services, and secondly, spectrum management.

During Second Half 2006, CSA took part in the interministerial exchanges held on these topics, looking more closely at the suggestions likely to have an impact on audiovisual frequency allocation mechanisms, such as the principle of technology neutrality and neutrality with regard to services or the creation of secondary markets for frequency utilisation rights.