Ann: ACCC calls for comment on Foxtel proposed ac, page-4

re: Ann: AXX: ACCC calls for comment on Foxte... yes does eem this way reading the anns and comments from accc.


Seems this one below is the main concern...


"Supply of subscription television services to consumers on the Gold Coast
73. While the ACCC?s preliminary view is that it is appropriate to consider the likely impact of the proposed acquisition in a national market for the supply of subscription television services to consumers, it may also be relevant to consider the potential loss of competition in the Gold Coast region. In this region, FOXTEL and Austar currently overlap in the supply of subscription television services to residential and commercial customers. Currently, FOXTEL and Austar standardise many elements of their subscription television offerings on a national basis (including the pricing of packages). While this limits the scope for FOXTEL and Austar to differentiate their offer in the Gold Coast region, the ACCC?s inquiries indicate that there is currently competition between FOXTEL and Austar in the form of:
�� inducements for signing up to a subscription television service such as free installation or free channels included in the customer?s package;
�� small differences between the content offerings of the parties which may be important to some customers;4
�� competition in supplying multi-dwelling units (MDUs) (such as residential apartment buildings) - such buildings are usually ?backboned? by only one of FOXTEL or Austar and the ACCC understands that there is competition between the parties to backbone each building;
4 For example, Austar carries Ovation, Al Jazeera and CCTV that FOXTEL does not. Further, there are variations in the channels that are included within different package tiers offered by FOXTEL and Austar."