S.I. No. 82/1988:

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY (WIRED BROADCAST RELAY LICENCE) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1988

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY (WIRED BROADCAST RELAY LICENCE) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1988

I, RAY BURKE, Minister for Communications, in exercise of the powers confered on me by section 6 (1) of the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926 (No. 45 of 1926), as amended by the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1983 (No. 40 of 1983), and, so far as these Regulations relate to fees, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, hereby make the following Regulations:

1. (1) These Reguations may be cited as the Wireless Telegraphy (Wired Broadcast Relay Licence) (Amendment) Regulations, 1988.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 5th day of May, 1988.

2. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937), applies to these Regulations.

3. In these Regulations "the Principle Regulations" means the Wireless Telegraphy (Wired Broadcast Relay Licence) Regulations, 1974 ( S.I. No. 67 of 1974 ).

4. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by--

(a) the insertion in Regulation 3 thereof after the definition of "approved local programme" of the following definitions:

"'basic service' means television programmes and sound programmes relayed by the licensee which a person is obliged to pay for in order to become a subscriber to a relay service;

'discretionary service' means television programmes or sound programmes relayed by the licensee which a subscriber to a relay service may accept or refuse, at his discretion, without affecting the relay of basic services to that subscriber;".

(b) the substitution in paragraph (2) of Regulation 9 of the following sub-paragraph for sub-paragraph (a) thereof--

"(a)equivalent to 5 per cent. of gross revenue (excluding installation charges and value added tax) paid to the licensee in respect of basic services in the quarter in which the fee is payable in respect of the relay service provided by the licensee,";

(ii) the substitution for paragraph(3) of Regulation 9 of the following paragraph --

"(3) A licensee who holds more than one licence in respect of stations in relation to which fees are payable under this Regulation may, if there is identifiable revenue of the kind specified in paragraph (2) of this Regulation in respect of each such station, pay a composite fee equivalent to 5 per cent. of the gross revenue, (excluding installation charges and value added tax) paid to him in respect of basic services in the quarter in which the fee is payable in respect of the relay service provided by him.";

(iii) The substitution for paragraph (4) of Regulation 9 of the following paragraph --

"4 (a) The Minister may require a licensee to furnish him a statement certified by a person who is qualified under the Companies Act, 1963 (No. 33 of 1963), for appointment as auditor of a company of the gross revenue (excluding installation charges and value added tax) paid to the licensee in respect of basic services in the year in which the requirement is made and in each subsequent year by reason of the relay service provided by the licensee and the licensee shall comply with such request within three months after the end of each year.

(b) Where a statement of gross revenue is furnished by the licensee in accordance with subparagraph (a) of paragraph 2 of this Regulation and 5 per cent. of such revenue differs by any amount from the sum of the fees paid by the licensee in accordance with the said subparagraph (a) of paragraph 2 in respect of the four quarters which comprise the year to which the statement relates --

(i) a fee of an amount equal to the difference shall be paid by the licensee within the period of two months from the date on which the statement was furnished as aforesaid if 5 per cent.of such revenue is greater than the sum of the fees, and

(ii) an amount equal to the difference shall be deducted from such fee if 5 per cent. of such revenue is less than the said sum.";

(c) the substitution in paragraph (a) of Regulation 12 of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (ii):

"(ii) relay such approved local programmes on the said channel to each service point connected to the station as part of the basic service.";

(d) the substitution for paragraph (b) of Regulation 12 of the following paragraph:

"(b) shall secure the approval in writing of the Minister for the prices and charges he proposes to levy in respect of connection of, and relay of the basic service to, service points connected to the station and for any subsequent variation thereof;";

(e) the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (3) of the Schedule thereof:

"3. The Licensee--

(a) shall relay as part of the basic service to each service point the national television programmes of Radio Telefís Éireann at the times at which they are being broadcast,

(b) may relay as part of the basic service such (if any) programmes as are specified in Part V of the Schedule to this licence,

(c) shall relay as part of the basic service to each service point the national sound programmes of Radio Telefís Éireann on the very high frequency band at the times at which they are being broadcast,

(d) if any of the sound programmes specified in Part V of the Schedule to this licence are being relayed on the medium frequency band to service points shall relay as part of the basic service the national sound programmes of Radio Telefis Éireann at the times at which they are being broadcast on the medium frequency band to each service point,

(e) shall relay as part of the basic service to each service point such approved local programmes as may be required by the Minister under Regulation 12 (a) of the Wireless Telegraphy (Wired Broadcast Relay Licence) Regulations, 1974, to be relayed,

and shall not relay any other programmes or matter save with the consent in writing of the Minister. Should such consent in writing be given the licence shall be regarded as amended accordingly.";

(f) the addition after the definition of "approved local programme" of the following definitions in the Schedule to the Wired Broadcast Relay Licence set out in the Schedule to the Principal Regulations:

"'basic service' means television programmes and sound programmes relayed by the licensee which a person is obliged to pay for in order to become a subscriber to a relay service;

'discretionary service' means television programmes or sound programmes relayed by the licensee which a subscriber to a relay service may accept or refuse at his discretion without affecting the relay of basic services to that subscriber;";

(g) the substitution of the following Part for Part V of the Schedule to the Wired Broadcast Relay Licence set out in the Schedule to the Principal Regulations:

"Programmes which may be relayed as part of the basic service in addition to those of Radio Telefís Éireann.";

(h) the insertion of the following Part in the Schedule to the Wired Broadcast Relay Licence set out in the Schedule to the Principal Regulations:

"PART VI

Programmes which may be relayed as part of the discretionary service".

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 29th day of April, 1988.

RAPHAEL P. BURKE

The Minister for Finance consents to the making of the foregoing Regulations insofar as they relate to fees.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for Finance, this 29th day of April, 1988.

RAY MACSHARRY.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations amend the Wireless Telegraphy (Wired Broadcast Relay Licence) Regulations, 1974 ( S.I. No. 67 of 1974 ) under which licences in respect of cable television systems are issued. The Regulations reduce the amount of licence fee payable in respect of such systems from 15 per cent. to 5 per cent. of gross revenue less installation charges and value added tax. The Regulations also introduce the concept of basic and discretionary services on cable systems.