Italy’s anti-trust new blow to Berlusconi TV

Monday January 30th 2006, 10:04 am
Filed under: Newspapers

Broadcaster Mediaset, controlled by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s family, is being probed by Italy’s anti-trust agency for its acquisition of frequencies to broadcast TV to mobile phones, the watchdog said on Friday. The investigation is the third to be opened in barely a month involving Berlusconi and his empire and returns to the public glare accusations about the media tycoon prime minister’s potential conflict of interest just as he faces an election in April. It also throws into doubt Mediaset’s plans to broadcast cutting-edge Digital Video Broadband Handheld (DVBH) television to mobile phones in the second half of this year. Mediaset is Italy’s biggest private broadcaster and the anti-trust said its December purchase of broadcast frequencies from Europa TV could have pushed it above its antitrust limit. The authority said it would conclude the investigation by March 13, less than a month before the April 9 vote. (Reuters,January 30, 2006)

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