Com Hem said it is reporting Telia Company to the EU Commission Monitoring Trustee for breach of EU terms for approving Telia’s takeover of Bonnier Broadcasting. The Tele2 subsidiary said Telia has begun the auction of streaming rights that the commision had demanded as a condition for clearing the merger, but that it has included more rights than the EU had intended. Com Hem claims this is meant to lock in TV4 streaming and limit competition.
Com Hem said the commission had instructed Telia to auction the complete streaming rights for the TV4 channel range. It said Telia has structured the auction in such a way that only one operator has the opportunity to do so. This means, said Com Hem, that only Telia and one other company will be able to offer customers complete rights to stream TV4 channels on any screen of the viewer's choice.
Tele2 CEO Anders Nilsson said it is regrettable that Telia is still trying to limit viewing rather than letting TV4 remain a channel for the whole country. It is creating Sweden’s first state pay-TV channel, which will dent its reach as well as Swedish media plurality and production, he said. It is surprising that the state is silently letting this happen, Nilsson added.
Com Hem said the agreement it reached with TV4 on 21 December 2019 remains in place and that it will continue broadcasting the TV4 channel itself as well as Sjuan (channel 7), TV12 and C More.
