In an exclusive interview with PAY-TV NEWS, Communications Minister Juarez Quadros said the bill on ?mass electronic communications? drafted by the incumbent Administration will be passed on to President-Elect Luís Inácio Lula da Silva and his transition team. The bill hasn?t been sent to Congress yet. The transition team will be able to decide whether to give it priority for the next sitting of Congress, which begins in February 2003. Documentation on all policies in place and proposals received will also be given to Lula?s team. While recognizing that several points in the bill are contentious and require further discussion, Mr Quadros said the draft was produced after careful study by Ronaldo Sá (formerly an associate of Sérgio Motta, now a consultant) and himself, with assistance from ministry staff and consultants. The bill encompasses pay television and broadcasting among other media.
Cable Act
The idea is to replace all existing laws on the media including the Cable TV Act. Mr Quadros said work is still in progress on drafting clauses to include a number of issues covered by separate laws, such as: (1) lifting of restrictions on foreign investment in cable companies, as proposed in a bill now before the Senate (Projeto de Lei 175/01); (2) restrictions on ownership of broadcasting licenses as per Provisional Measure MP 70, i.e. in accordance with Decree-Law 236/67 with a waiver for equity holdings of less than 20% (non-controlling shares); (3) inclusion of community radio stations but not community TV.
Cross-ownership
Mr Quadros said he doesn?t plan to include any restrictions on cross-ownership of different media. Even countries that have such restrictions, such as the United States, are currently reviewing them, he argued. However, he admitted that the next Administration may take a different view on this issue.
Anatel
The bill makes Anatel responsible for all aspects of regulation in the media industry, including licensing and oversight of radio and TV broadcasters. This is the Communications Ministry?s responsibility under the existing legal framework. If the next Administration accepts the bill as drafted and if Congress passes it, Anatel will need to take on more staff, in Mr Quadros?s opinion. This could be done simply by transferring the ministry personnel currently responsible for broadcasters. The Constitution has separate articles on broadcasting and telecommunications, he recalled. ?Anatel should be the regulator for both industries. If a transition is necessary, the ministry should temporarily retain responsibility for broadcasting,? he said.
Must-carry
The bill drafted by Mr Quadros and his team retains must-carry for broadcast channels by cable TV operators, as currently stipulated in the Cable Act. The minister said he?s still discussing the possibility of extending must-carry to DTH operators, with possible waivers when justified by local conditions, and for digital MMDS. But he acknowledged that this is a highly contentious point.
Regional production
The issue of regional production for broadcasters hasn?t been sorted out yet. Mr Quadros expressed concern on a bill submitted by Deputy Jandira Feghalli (PC do B, Amazonas) that would oblige broadcasters to carry what he considers an excessively large percentage of regional programming. ?It?s not possible to impose regional programming in remote areas,? he said. ?There has to be the economic and industrial capacity to produce programs. I would advocate more careful analysis of this question.? Another issue that requires further study is whether relationships among affiliates should be re-regulated.
Pay-TV licenses
Mr Quadros said nothing has been decided yet regarding the status of pay-TV licenses. The next Administration will have to make up its own mind whether cable companies should be granted what the General Telecommunications Act terms ?private-law authorizations? as opposed to public-service licenses (?concessions?). Ideally all services should be licensed in the same standard form, he believes, but he?s listening to the arguments of cable companies that own concessions. Switching to authorizations would ?diminish the force of the contract?, they claim. The minister also said he hasn?t decided whether to accept a proposal to strike out a clause on programming exclusivity for pay television in the original draft of the bill.
