Government proposes waiving the must-carry obligation for radio

On 25 April 2024, the Government submitted to Parliament a proposal to amend the Act on Electronic Communications Services. The must-carry obligation for radio programmes would be removed from the Act, the provision on the revocation of radio licences would be amended and other technical amendments would be made.

The current must-carry obligation obliges telecom operators providing cable television network services to transmit the television and radio programming of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE in their networks. Administrators of joint antenna networks, such as housing companies, have been obliged to ensure that the YLE television and radio broadcasts are available in their systems.

The government proposal would remove the must-carry obligation with regard to YLE’s radio programmes. Although the obligation only pertains to YLE’s programming, the distribution of commercial radio is likely to end at the same time in the cable networks where it has still been distributed. No other changes are proposed to the must-carry regulation. The proposal implements the objectives of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government on deregulation.

The distribution of radio on cable television networks limits the development of cable broadband services and the use of the network, as it prevents more efficient frequency allocation and the transition to newer technologies. A significant number of households use broadband services, which rely on cable networks. At the end of 2022, about 530,000 households had broadband access.

Very few people, on the other hand, listen to cable radio. The removal of the must-carry obligation would likely affect around 25,500 to 50,000 households. Most commonly, people listen to the radio through antenna distribution or via the internet. The government proposal has no effect on these methods of reception.

In addition, the government proposal would amend the provision on the revocation of radio licences. In future, the licence could also be revoked if, for example, the holder of the radio licence endangers national security.

Technical amendments would also be made to the Act. The amendments concern the amount of the television and radio broadcasting supervision fee and the market-based spectrum fee.

The draft government proposal containing the proposals was circulated for comments between 21 February and 15 March 2024. Comments were requested on a broader proposal. For the subsequent preparatory work this was divided into two separate proposals to streamline and facilitate the consideration by Parliament.

Emergency warning communication must be developed

According to the Ministry of Transport and Communications’ assessment, removing the must-carry obligation would not significantly weaken emergency warning communication. Emergency warning communication is based on multi-channel communication. Radio is one of the channels that transmit emergency warnings. As a result of the change, cable radio listeners would need to use an alternative distribution method to receive radio. However, a significant part of radio listening (about 90%) takes place through terrestrial distribution, which the Government proposal has no effect on.

It is estimated that most cable radio listeners would switch to receiving the radio via antenna distribution when the distribution of radio in cable TV networks ends. In addition, the Finnish National Rescue Association and the National Emergency Supply Agency recommend that households acquire battery-operated radios with spare batteries to prepare for various exceptional situations and disruptions.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications considers it important that a project be launched under the leadership of the Ministry of the Interior for the development of emergency warning communication as soon as possible. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for emergency warning communication as a whole.

What’s next?

A referral debate will be held on the government proposal in the plenary session of Parliament. The date of the session will be announced on Parliament’s website. After the referral debate, the proposal will be taken to a Parliamentary Committee. Once the Committee’s report is ready, the matter will be discussed in a plenary session.

The act is due to enter into force on 1 July 2024. After a one-year transition period, the must-carry obligation for radio would end on 1 July 2025.

Inquiries:

Roosa Patrakka, Senior Officer, roosa.patrakka(at)gov.fi, tel. +358 295 342 192

Sini Wirén, Director of Unit, sini.wiren(at)gov.fi, tel. +358 295 342 532