Section 64: Must-carry obligations
166.General conditions may include provision to ensure that services on the must-carry list are carried by networks which are used by a significant number of end users as their principal means of receiving television.
167.The must-carry list contains the following services: a service of television programmes provided by the BBC in digital form (where the service is one in relation to which OFCOM have functions), digital Channel 3, digital Channel 4, digital Channel 5, S4C Digital and the digital public teletext service.
168.The requirement to carry a listed service will also apply to any ancillary services (such as subtitling or other assistance to disabled people) related to that service, and may be treated as consisting of such other services comprised in or provided with that service as may be determined by OFCOM.
169.General conditions containing provisions authorised under section 64 must comply with any order made by the Secretary of State under subsection (5) to set the minimum and maximum capacity that a listed service must or may use on a network.
170.The Secretary of State, when setting the maximum or minimum capacity to be used by a listed service, must have regard (a) to the objective of securing that the services on the must-carry list, together with any others to which provisions authorised under section 64 apply, are available for reception by as many members of the public in the United Kingdom as practicable, and (b) to the need to secure that the amount of capacity left available is reasonable and, accordingly, that the burden imposed on the cable operator under this section is proportionate to the public benefit obtained.
171.The Secretary of State can also make an order which sets the terms on which a service on the must-carry list is to be broadcast (or provides for OFCOM to set such terms). This can include a requirement that no payment is made by the service provider or the network provider.
172.The Secretary of State must, from time to time, review the must-carry list and any requirements as to the terms on which services in that list must be broadcast. When carrying out a review the Secretary of State must consult OFCOM and other parties likely to be affected by a modification to the must-carry list. Following such a review, the Secretary of State may, by order, amend the must-carry list. When determining whether or not it is appropriate to amend the list, she must consider the public benefit in doing so, the extent to which a service would otherwise be made available even if not added to the list, the amount of spare network capacity of providers of electronic communications networks to whom the must-carry obligations apply and whether the burden of compliance is proportionate to the objective of securing that must-carry services are made available to the public.
173.She must consult OFCOM and such persons who, in her opinion, are likely to be affected by an order, or who represent any of those persons, as she thinks fit:
before making an order under subsection (5) (to set minimum and maximum capacity); and
before making an order under subsection (11) (as to the terms of carriage).
This does not apply when a review has been carried out under subsection (7), as a full consultation is already required under subsection (8).
174.This section implements Article 6(1) of, and condition 6 of Part A to the Annex to the Authorisation Directive and Article 31 of the Universal Service Directive.
