This week the Broadcasting Authority (BAI) announced their contract negotiations with all three potential operators of digital terrestrial television (DTT) have now failed.
The process started over two years ago with the award of the licence in principal to Boxer, the combined Denis O’Brien Communicorp and Swedish Boxer group. After a year they withdrew from the process citing the economy and breakdown of negotiations with RTÉ as reasons.
The licence was then offered to the runners-up, OneVision, the Eircom/TV3 consortium. After another year they too withdrew also citing breakdown of negotiations …

The first speech by Bob Collins, the new Chairman of the BAI, appears to mark a departure from the Authorities traditional focus on the administrative end of regulation to a more visionary stance.
Mr Collins called on the commercial broadcasting sector to take a more active part in emerging technologies. “Commercial broadcasters cannot stand back and see digital radio as being only something for public service broadcasting” he said. “Digital radio is an area where we have to be involved. We can’t stand back as observers of technological and editorial development …