Press Release: Telecoms: European Commission urges Lithuanian telecoms regulator to take action on the broadcasting licensing regime

The European Commission warned on 5 February 2010 the Lithuanian national telecoms regulator, R yšių reguliavimo tarnyba (RRT), that obliging terrestrial broadcasters to use specific suppliers to transmit their programmes constitutes a barrier to competition and prevents new terrestrial transmission service providers from entering the market. The Commission says that regulators no longer need to intervene in broadcasting markets in principal. However, RRT intends to continue regulating Lithuanian terrestrial broadcasting markets because of the exclusive market position that has been granted to transmission service providers Lietuvos radijo ir televizijos centras (LRTC) and TEO.