Communications Act 2003 (c. 21)

(The document as of February, 2008)

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Special procedure for applications for local licences

47 (1) Section 104B of the 1990 Act (special procedure for applications for local licences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) After subsection (1) there shall be inserted--

" (1A) In subsection (1)(c) the reference to the service in question, in relation to a case in which it is a pre-transfer local licence that is due to expire, is a reference to the equivalent local service for which a licence is capable of being granted at times on or after the radio transfer date. "

Special requirements relating to grant of local licences

48 (1) Section 105 of the 1990 Act (special requirements relating to grant of local licences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Authority" there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) For paragraph (d) (duty to have regard to the extent to which proposed service supported by persons living in the area) there shall be substituted--

" (d) the extent to which there is evidence that, amongst persons living in that area or locality, there is a demand for, or support for, the provision of the proposed service. "

Requirements as to character and coverage of services

49 In subsections (1) to (4) and (6) of section 106 of the 1990 Act (requirements as to character and coverage of services), for "the Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Enforcement of licences

50 In sections 109 to 111A of the 1990 Act (enforcement of licences), for "the Authority" and "The Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Power to suspend licences to provide radio licensable content services from a satellite

51 (1) Section 111B of the 1990 Act (power to suspend licence to provide satellite service) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (1)--

(a) in paragraph (a), for "satellite service" there shall be substituted "radio licensable content service";

(b) in paragraph (b), for the words from "included in the licence" to the end of the paragraph there shall be substituted "which in compliance with section 263 of the Communications Act 2003 is included in the licence for the purpose of securing the objective mentioned in section 319(2)(b) of that Act, and".

Additional radio services

52 (1) Section 114 of the 1990 Act (additional radio services) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1)--

(a) for "telecommunication" there shall be substituted "electronic"; and

(b) for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted "on a relevant frequency".

(3) In subsection (2), for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted " any part of the signals which--

(a) is not required for the purposes of the sound broadcasting service for the purposes of which the frequency has been made available; and

(b) is determined by OFCOM to be available for the provision of additional services; " .

(4) After that subsection there shall be inserted--

" (2A) At any time while an additional services licence is in force, OFCOM may, if they consider it appropriate to do so, modify or further modify the determination made for the purposes of that licence under subsection (2)(b); and where there has been such a modification or further modification, the licence shall have effect accordingly.

(2B) A modification or further modification under subsection (2A) must not reduce the amount of spare capacity made available for the licensed services. "

(5) In subsection (3), for the words from the beginning to "subsection (2)(a)" there shall be substituted "OFCOM shall, when determining under subsection (2)".

(6) For subsection (6) there shall be substituted--

" (6) In this section "electronic signal" means a signal within the meaning of section 32 of the Communications Act 2003.

(7) In this section and section 115 "relevant frequency" means a frequency made available by OFCOM for the purposes of a sound broadcasting service. "

(7) This paragraph does not affect the validity of a licence granted or last renewed before the radio transfer date, or the services licensed by any such licence.

Licensing of additional radio services

53 (1) Section 115 of the 1990 Act (licensing of additional radio services) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "The Authority" and "the Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (1), for the words from "of the following" to "114(1)(b)" there shall be substituted "relevant frequency".

(4) In subsection (4), at the end there shall be inserted "and who would not be in contravention of the requirements imposed by or under Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003 if he held such a licence".

(5) In subsection (8), for "local, restricted or satellite service" there shall be substituted "local or restricted service or to provide a radio licensable content service".

Applications for additional radio services licences

54 (1) Section 116 of the 1990 Act (applications for additional radio services licences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Authority" and "The Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (1)(b)(iii), the words "(subject to the approval of the Secretary of State)" shall be omitted.

Procedure for awarding additional radio services licences

55 (1) Section 117 of the 1990 Act (procedure for awarding additional radio services licences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (1), for paragraph (a) (requirement of approval of technical plans) there shall be substituted--

" (a) that the technical plan submitted under section 116(3)(b), in so far as it involves the use of an electronic communications network (within the meaning of the Communications Act 2003), contains proposals that are acceptable to them; and " .

(4) Subsections (2) and (7) shall cease to have effect.

Additional payments in respect of additional radio services licences

56 In section 118 of the 1990 Act (additional payments in respect of additional radio services licences), for "the Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Additional radio services not to interfere with other transmissions

57 (1) Section 119 of the 1990 Act (additional radio services not to interfere with other transmissions) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), for "the Authority" there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) Subsection (2) shall cease to have effect.

Enforcement of additional radio services licences

58 In section 120 of the 1990 Act (enforcement of additional radio services licences), for "the Authority" and "The Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Interpretation

59 In subsection (1) of section 126 of the 1990 Act (interpretation of Part 3)--

(a) for the definition of "independent radio service" there shall be substituted--

" "independent radio service" means a service falling to be regulated under section 245 of the Communications Act 2003; " ;

(b) for the definitions of "local service", "national service", "restricted service" and "satellite service" there shall be substituted--

" "local service", "national service" and "restricted service" each has the same meaning as in section 245 of the Communications Act 2003;

"pre-transfer local licence" and "pre-transfer national licence" each has the same meaning as in section 253 of that Act;

"radio licensable content service" has the same meaning as in Part 3 of that Act;

"radio transfer date" has the same meaning as in that Act; " ;

(c) in the definition of "sound broadcasting service" for the words from "(as defined" to the end there shall be substituted "(within the meaning of Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003);".

Duty to provide advance information about programmes

60 In column 1 of the Table in section 176(7) of the 1990 Act (persons who are the providers of services for the purposes of the obligations to give advance information about programmes)--

(a) for "regulation by the Independent Television Commission" there shall be substituted "regulation by OFCOM";

(b) for "The television broadcasting service provided by the Welsh Authority and the service referred to in section 57(1A)(a)" there shall be substituted "The public television services of the Welsh Authority (within the meaning of Part 2 of Schedule 12 to the Communications Act 2003)";

(d) for "the Radio Authority", in both places, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Proscription of foreign satellite services

61 (1) Section 177 of the 1990 Act (proscription of foreign satellite stations) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (2), for "the Independent Television Commission or the Radio Authority consider that the quality of any relevant" there shall be substituted "OFCOM consider that the quality of any".

(3) In subsection (3), for the words from the beginning to "Authority" there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(4) In subsection (6), the definition of "relevant foreign satellite service" shall be omitted.

Financing of Gaelic Broadcasting

62 (1) Section 183 of the 1990 Act (financing of Gaelic Broadcasting) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (2), for "by them under this section to be" there shall be substituted "by the Independent Television Commission under this section and".

(4) This paragraph--

(a) so far as it relates to subsection (1) of section 183 has effect in relation only to financial years beginning after the television transfer date; and

(b) so far as it relates to subsection (2) of that section does not apply to amounts paid for earlier financial years.

Gaelic Broadcasting in Scotland

63 (1) Section 184 of the 1990 Act (broadcasting of programmes in Gaelic on Channel 3 in Scotland) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), for the words "subsection (2)" there shall be substituted "subsection (1)(a)".

(3) In subsection (3), for the words from "The conditions" to "the purpose of" there shall be substituted "The regulatory regime for a service to which this section applies includes the conditions that OFCOM consider appropriate for".

(4) After that subsection there shall be inserted--

" (3A) Section 263 of the Communications Act 2003 (regulatory regime) applies in relation to conditions included by virtue of subsection (3) in the regulatory regime for a licensed service as it applies in relation to conditions which are so included by virtue of a provision of Chapter 4 of Part 3 of that Act. "

(5) In subsection (4)(b), for "the Commission" there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Maintenance of the national television archive

64 (1) In section 185 of the 1990 Act (maintenance of the national television archive)--

(a) for "The Commission" and "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(b) in subsection (5), the definition of "the Commission" shall be omitted.

(2) This paragraph so far as it relates to subsection (1) of that section has effect in relation only to financial years beginning after the television transfer date.

Modification of networking arrangements

65 (1) Section 193 of the 1990 Act (modification of networking arrangements in consequence of competition legislation) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), for the words from "the Office of Fair Trading" to "relevant authority')" there shall be substituted "the relevant authority".

(3) After subsection (2) there shall be inserted--

" (2A) In subsection (1), "relevant authority" means--

(a) in relation to a relevant order falling within subsection (2)(a), the Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission or (as the case may be) the Secretary of State;

(b) in relation to a relevant order falling within subsection (2)(b), the Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission, the Secretary of State or (as the case may be) OFCOM. "

(4) In subsection (4), for "section 39(1) above" there shall be substituted "section 290(4) of the Communications Act 2003".

Search warrants

66 (1) Section 196 of the 1990 Act (grant of search warrant to person authorised by the Independent Television Commission or the Radio Authority) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), for "the relevant authority" there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) Subsection (2) (definition of "relevant authority") shall be omitted.

Notices

67 In section 199(5) of the 1990 Act (publication of notices), for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted "by OFCOM under section 21, 41, 42, 55, 103, 109, 110, 111 or 120".

Interpretation

68 (1) Section 202 of the 1990 Act (general interpretation) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), after the definition of "modifications" there shall be inserted--

" "OFCOM" means the Office of Communications; " .

(3) After subsection (6) there shall be inserted--

" (6A) Subsections (2) and (3) of section 362 of the Communications Act 2003 (persons by whom services provided) are to apply for the purposes of this Act as they apply for the purposes of Part 3 of that Act. "

Disqualified persons

69 (1) Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act (restrictions on the holding of licences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 1(1) of Part 1, after the definition of "associate" there shall be inserted--

" "Broadcasting Act licence" means a licence under Part 1 or 3 of this Act or Part 1 or 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996; " .

(3) In paragraph 1(6) of Part 1 (meaning of "more than a 20 per cent. interest"), for "20 per cent.", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "5 per cent.".

(4) In Part 2 (disqualified persons), for "a licence granted by the Commission or the Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "a Broadcasting Act licence".

(5) In paragraph 1(1)(i) of Part 2 (bodies controlled by persons falling within paragraphs (a) to (g)), for "(a)" there shall be substituted "(c)".

(6) In paragraph 3(1) of Part 2, for "by the Authority" there shall be substituted "under Part 3 of this Act or Part 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996".

(7) In paragraph 4(1) of Part 2, for "that body" there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(8) In paragraph 4(2) of Part 2--

(a) in paragraph (a), for "by the Commission, means a body" there shall be substituted "under Part 1 of this Act or Part 1 of the Broadcasting Act 1996, means a person"; and

(b) in paragraph (b), for "by the Authority, means a body" there shall be substituted "under Part 3 of this Act or Part 2 of the Broadcasting Act 1996, means a person".

(9) In paragraph 5A of Part 2--

(a) in sub-paragraph (1)(a), the words "granted by the Commission",

(b) sub-paragraph (1)(b) and the word "and" immediately preceding it,

shall be omitted.

C4C

70 (1) Schedule 3 to the 1990 Act (provision about constitution and management of C4C) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In paragraph 2(1) (persons disqualified from membership of the Corporation), for paragraphs (b) to (d) there shall be substituted " or

(b) a member or employee of OFCOM. "

The Welsh Authority

71 (1) Schedule 6 to the 1990 Act (provision about constitution and management of the Welsh Authority) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 2 (persons disqualified from membership of the Authority)--

(a) sub-paragraph (1) shall be omitted; and

(b) in sub-paragraph (2)(b), for "the Commission" there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In paragraph 12(1A), for the words from "the general fund" onwards there shall be substituted "the assets of the Authority that are not comprised in that fund; and accordingly, the statement must deal with liabilities separately according to whether they fall to be met from that fund or from those assets."

Computation of qualifying revenue

72 (1) Schedule 7 to the 1990 Act (computation of "qualifying revenue") shall be amended as follows.

(2) In Part 1, for "the Commission" and "The Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In Part 2, for "the Authority" and "The Authority", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

The Gaelic Television Committee

73 (1) Schedule 19 to the 1990 Act (Gaelic Television Committee) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Commission" and "The Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) For "Committee", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "Service".

(4) In paragraph 8(c), the words "and (where the expenses relate to the Commission's functions in connection with sound programmes) the Radio Authority" shall be omitted.

(5) In paragraph 11(4), the words "or the Radio Authority" and "or (as the case may be) the Authority" shall be omitted.

Part 2 Amendments of the 1996 Act

Multiplex services and digital programme services

74 (1) Section 1 of the 1996 Act (interpretation) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For subsection (1) there shall be substituted--

" (1) In this Part "multiplex service" means (except where the context otherwise requires) a television multiplex service. "

(3) In subsection (4), for "for general reception" there shall be substituted "so as to be available for reception by members of the public".

(4) For subsection (4A) there shall be substituted--

" (4A) In subsection (4), "available for reception by members of the public" means available for reception by members of the public (within the meaning of Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003) in the United Kingdom or another EEA State, or in an area of the United Kingdom or of such a State. "

(5) For subsection (7) of that section there shall be substituted--

" (7) In this section "broadcast" means broadcast otherwise than from a satellite. "

Meaning of qualifying service

75 In section 2 of the 1996 Act (meaning of "qualifying service" etc.), for subsections (2) to (6) there shall be substituted--

" (2) In this Part "qualifying service" means any of the following, so far as they are provided with a view to their being broadcast in digital form--

(a) a television broadcasting service included in Channel 3;

(b) Channel 4;

(d) S4C Digital;

(e) a television programme service provided by the Welsh Authority with the approval of the Secretary of State under section 205 of the Communications Act 2003;

(f) the digital public teletext service. "

Licences under Part 1

76 (1) Section 3 of the 1996 Act (licences under Part 1 of that Act) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1), for "the Independent Television Commission (in this Part referred to as the "the Commission")" there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsections (3) to (7), for "The Commission" and "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(4) For subsection (8) there shall be substituted--

" (8) The holding by a person of a licence under this Part shall not relieve him of--

(a) any liability in respect of a failure to hold a licence under section 1 of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949; or

(b) any obligation to comply with requirements imposed by or under Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Communications Act 2003 (electronic communications networks and electronic communications services). "

Licence conditions

77 (1) Section 4 of the 1996 Act (general licence conditions) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (1), in each of paragraphs (a) and (c), for "the 1990 Act or this Act" there shall be substituted "this Act, the 1990 Act or the Communications Act 2003".

(4) In subsection (3) (fixing fees), the words from "and the amount" onwards shall be omitted.

Restrictions on digital licence holding

78 (1) Section 5 of the 1996 Act (restrictions on holding licences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "The Commission" and "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (2) (incidental requirements to provide information), after paragraph (d) there shall be inserted--

" (da) impose conditions in a licence requiring the licence holder, if a body corporate, to give OFCOM notice, after they have occurred and irrespective of whether proposals for them have fallen to be notified, of changes, transactions or events affecting--

(i) shareholdings in the body; or

(ii) the directors of the body;

(db) impose conditions in a licence enabling OFCOM to require the licence holder to provide them with such information as they may reasonably require for determining--

(i) whether the licence holder is a disqualified person in relation to that licence by virtue of Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act; or

(ii) whether any such requirements as are mentioned in subsection (1)(b) have been and are being complied with by or in relation to the licence holder; " .

(4) In subsection (6)--

(a) in paragraph (a), for "complained of" there shall be substituted "constituting their grounds for revoking the licence".

(b) in paragraph (b)(i), for "Parts III and IV of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act" there shall be substituted "the requirements imposed by or under Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003".

(5) In subsection (7)--

(a) paragraph (a) shall cease to have effect; and

(b) in paragraph (b), for "Part IV of that Schedule" there shall be substituted "Part 1 of Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003".

(6) In subsection (8), for the words from "a failure" to the end of paragraph (c) there shall be substituted "a disqualification under Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the 1990 Act or a contravention of a requirement imposed by or under Schedule 14 to the Communications Act 2003,".

Multiplex licences

79 (1) Section 7 of the 1996 Act (multiplex licences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Commission" and "The Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (4)--

(a) after paragraph (c) there shall be inserted--

" (ca) the applicant's proposals as to the number (if any) of digital sound programmes services which are to be broadcast, as to the characteristics of each of those services and as to the areas in which they would be provided; "

(b) in paragraph (d) for "those services" there shall be substituted "the services mentioned in paragraphs (c) and (ca)".

Award of multiplex licences

80 (1) Section 8 of the 1996 Act (award of multiplex licences) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (2)(f), after "digital programme service" there shall be inserted ", digital sound programme service".

Power to require two or more multiplex licences to be granted to one person

81 In section 9 of the 1996 Act (grant of two or more multiplex licences to one person), for "The Commission" and "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Award of multiplex licences subject to conditions

82 (1) Section 10 of the 1996 Act (award of multiplex licences subject to conditions) shall be amended as follows.

(2) For "The Commission" and "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(3) In subsection (1)(a), for "the 1990 Act or this Act" there shall be substituted "this Act, the 1990 Act or Part 3 of the Communications Act 2003".

Failure to provide licensed service and revocation

83 In section 11 of the 1996 Act (failure to provide licensed service and revocation), for "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Conditions attached to multiplex licences

84 In section 12 of the 1996 Act (conditions attached to multiplex licences), for "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Additional payments in respect of multiplex licences

85 In section 13 of the 1996 Act (additional payments in respect of multiplex licences), for "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

Multiplex revenue

86 (1) Section 14 of the 1996 Act (multiplex revenue) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1)--

(a) for "section 13(1)" there shall be substituted "this Part";

(b) for "the holder of a multiplex licence" there shall be substituted "the person who is the multiplex provider in relation to any television multiplex service or any general multiplex service";

(c) in paragraph (a), for "the multiplex service to which the licence relates" there shall be substituted "the relevant multiplex";

(d) in paragraph (b) for "of any qualifying service by means of the multiplex service" there shall be substituted "by means of the multiplex service of any service which is a qualifying service or which (without being a qualifying service) is provided by the BBC";

(e) in paragraphs (c) and (d), for "the holder of the multiplex licence" and "the multiplex service", in each place where they occur there shall be substituted, respectively, "the multiplex provider" and "the relevant multiplex".

(3) In subsections (2) to (8)--

(a) for the words "the holder of the multiplex licence" and "the licence holder", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted, in each case, "the multiplex provider"; and

(b) for "the Commission", wherever occurring, there shall be substituted "OFCOM".

(4) In subsection (9)--

(a) for "a multiplex licence", in each place, there shall be substituted "a television multiplex service or a general multiplex service";

(b) for "the multiplex service to which the licence relates", in each place, there shall be substituted "that multiplex service";

" "multiplex provider"--

(a) in relation to a television multiplex service for which a person holds a licence under this Part, means the licence holder; and

(b) in relation to a television multiplex service which is not licensed under this Part or a general multiplex service, means the person who provides that service; "

(d) after the definition of "programme provider" there shall be inserted--

" "the relevant multiplex"--

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