UPDATE 2-Italy court rejects Mediaset appeal to EU ruling
May 31st, 2008 | by admin |(Adds Mediaset CEO paragraphs 6-7)
ROME, May 31 (Reuters) - A top Italian court on Saturdayrejected an appeal by broadcaster Mediaset SpA (MS.MI: Quote, Profile, Research), owned byPrime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, against a European Unionruling that held the way frequencies were shared out was unfair.
The Council of State, Italy’s highest court onadministrative matters, said the government should abide by aEuropean Court of Justice ruling in January which strengthened asmall region broadcaster’s fight against Mediaset.
The immediate impact on Mediaset, which shares a TVnear-duopoly with state broadcaster RAI, was unclear. Thegovernment said it would wait until the court issued itsreasoning.
Regional broadcaster Europa 7 has been in litigation foryears. It claimed damages because it was not allocated TVfrequencies despite winning broadcasting rights in 1999.
It says its frequencies were given unlawfully to Mediasetchannel Rete 4 which did not initially have a concession butlater had provisional licences formalised.
Mediaset Chairman Fedele Confalonieri said: “Europa 7 has norights over Rete 4’s frequencies.”
“There is no shadow over the legitimacy of Rete 4’sfrequencies,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a conferencein Trento, northwest Italy, adding that Europa 7 could claim fordamages in a legal process that would last under October.
The EU court said in January: “The exclusive allocation ofradio frequencies to a limited number of incumbent operatorswithout any time restriction … is in breach of principles …on freedom to provide services.”
