Communications Regulatory Authority

system
C/7597 Acquisition of a radio and
television broadcasting
system
27/03/2006 RTI s.p.a. / Erreuno TV s.r.l. 213/06/CONS
3.3 RELATIONS WITH THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
The collaboration with the Ministry of Communications, which the complexity
of the regulatory framework of the communications systems renders necessary and
advisable, continued throughout the past year, for the purpose of ensuring consistency
and continuity in the action of the two bodies, and also of allaying the uncertainties with
regard to consumers and users concerning the attribution of the specific and different
responsibilities.
A topic of major importance on which AGCOM worked with the Ministry was
that of the procedures for the assignment of the 900 MHz frequencies and their
subsequent reorganization, and the 1800 MHz frequencies, into the band freed by the
TACS services. With regard to this matter, as is well known, AGCOM will draft the
regulations, while the Ministry will issue the act of assignment.
Other sectors in which there was cooperation between AGCOM and the Ministry
were the drafting of the agreement on the guidelines for the content of the further
obligations of the general public radio and television service and the discussion of the
obligations of keeping separate accounts weighing on the public radio and television
service concessionaire. In this regard, AGCOM is finishing the procedures envisaged by
Article 47 of the Consolidation Act, with the appointment of the auditing company to
which to entrust the oversight of the separate accounts for the revenues deriving from
the subscription fees and the charges incurred by the concessionaire company, during
the previous calendar year, for the providing of the service (cf. paragraph 2.6). This
oversight, consistent with the provisions of the regulations, is preparatory for the
decision of the Ministry of Communications, which establishes by decree, in November
of each year, the amount of the subscription fee, necessary to cover the costs the
concessionaire company will presumably incur to fulfil the specific general public radio
and television service obligations.
The currently most significant project on which the Ministry and Authority
acting together is certainly that concerning the creation of the “frequency cadastre”, a
single, up-to-date, reliable data archive supporting the actions concerning television
frequencies. The synergy started will make it possible to keep the realization times
down, with a more rational use of the technical resources that both the Ministry and
AGCOM have at their disposal. It is advisable to create the frequency archive because it
is necessary to have an up-to-date instrument for being able to assess the efficient use of
the radio spectrum, identify redundant frequencies, and arrange the available resources
better, since they are in any case limited compared to the existing demand. The updating
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