Article 7 Public service digital programme licences: conditions and duration
The following modifications to section 19 of the 1996 Act (duration and conditions of digital programme licences) shall have effect for the purposes of this Order in relation to public service digital programme licences.
Subsection (1) of that section shall have effect as if, after the words “shall continue in force until it is surrendered by its holder” there were added the words—
“or, if sooner, in the case of a public service digital programme licence, until—
(a)the expiry or other termination of the Multiplex B licence, or
(b)in a case where the holder of the public service digital programme licence also holds a Channel 3 licence or a licence to provide Channel 5, the holder ceases, by virtue of article 4(3)(a) or (4) of the 2008 Order, to have digital capacity on Multiplex B reserved for it.”
That section shall have effect as if, after subsection (3), there were inserted—
“(3A)A public service digital programme licence shall include such conditions as appear to OFCOM to be appropriate for securing that the holder of the licence provides the public service digital television programme services and digital additional services (if any) proposed by the holder of the licence in its application made under article 3 of the 2008 Order, for the duration of the licence, subject to subsection (3C).
(3B)A public service digital programme licence whose holder is also the holder of a regional Channel 3 licence (within the meaning of Part 1 of the Broadcasting Act 1990) may also include such conditions as appear to OFCOM to be appropriate for securing that the services referred to in subsection (3A) are provided in such area or areas in the British Islands as may be specified in the conditions.
(3C)Where the holder of a public service digital programme licence applies for the variation of any condition included in that licence by virtue of subsection (3A), OFCOM must grant the application unless it appears to them that, if the application were granted, the capacity of the public service digital television programme services provided under it (or any digital additional services associated with it) to further the objectives mentioned in article 3(8) of the 2008 Order would be unduly diminished.
(3D)In this section, “the 2008 Order” means the Television Multiplex Services (Reservation of Digital Capacity) Order 2008; and expressions used in this section and in that Order have the same meaning in this section as they have in that Order.”