[denphone]

BSkyB has too much power over rivals, Competition Commission rules.

The competition regulator has said that BSkyB has too much power over pay-TV rivals, raising the possibility that the satellite company could face another investigation.

On Thursday, the Competition Commission raised the issue of BSkyB's "market power" as part of the publication of its final report into the pay-TV film market.

The report gave more detail of the process behind the competition regulator's announcement in May that no action needs to be taken over BSkyB's monopoly of UK pay-TV film rights.

The 12-page summary of the final report found that there were "significant barriers to large scale entry and expansion for a traditional pay-TV retailer".

The problems involved in taking on BSkyB's dominant position include costs to set up a rival, huge marketing costs to overcome the view held by subscribers that changing providers is too much hassle, and fending off the inevitable competitive response, according to the regulator.

"Together with Sky's large number of existing subscribers deriving from its historical position (Sky's incumbency advantage) and the restricted geographical coverage of Sky's main historical competitor, Virgin Media, it appeared to us that these factors resulted in Sky having too much market power in the pay-TV retail market," the report said.

Ian Giles, senior associate at law firm Norton Rose, said the finding could pave the way for another investigation into the pay-TV market. "Sky will no doubt be pleased with the result, but concerned that the Competition Commission still highlights concerns in relation to the broader pay TV sector – another broader investigation cannot be ruled out," he said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012...ion-commission

Just a confirmation what everybody has thought all along and the question now is what are they going to do about it.