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Programme licences

licence, as specified in section 7 of the Television and Radio Act, granting the right to transmit or make available programmes. Licences are granted and declared open for application by the Government.

Section 10 of the Television and Radio Act stipulates the manner of granting of licences and declaring them open for application. When granting licences or declaring them open for application, licensing authorities need to take into account the full television and radio operation environment in the region in question, aim at promoting freedom of expression, and ensure the diversity of the programme sets as well as the meeting of the needs of special groups in the audience. According to the detailed rationale for the government proposal on the act (HE 34/1998) and the statement of the Constitutional Law Committee, communications must also be prevented from becoming centralised in a way that would jeopardise freedom of expression. Licences can also be granted to natural persons, communities, or foundations when these are financially sound and are manifestly able to carry out continuous operations as specified in the licence. In practice, the licence-granting procedure is a ‘beauty contest’ in which applications are assessed from the perspectives described above.

According to section 11 of the act, the licensing authority has the right to issue licence-related regulations on programme operations that safeguard the diversity of programming and the needs of special groups. The licensing authority also has the right to issue regulations on the regional service area of broadcasts, daily hours of transmission, transmission technology and transfer capacity. During the validity of the licence, its terms may be amended by request of or with the approval of the licence- holder. The licence can be amended also in other circumstances, if this is rendered absolutely necessary by technical developments or specific factors created by fundamental changes in the prerequisites for the operations covered by the licence. Licences can be granted for a maximum period of 10 years.

Operations not subject to licence

YLE may engage in public-service television or radio operations without a licence. The operations of YLE are governed by the Act on Yleisradio Oy (1380/1993).

FICORA must be notified of television and radio operations that do not match the descriptions above. Such operations include, for example, television operations in cable-television networks (for example regional channels that are not re-broadcasting). The notification must include information on the operator and the area of operations, and it must give a description of the programmes that are broadcast.

Section 13 of the Communications Market Act includes provisions for telecommunications operations subject to notification. Before initiating operations, an operator of public telecommunications must submit a written notification (i.e., a telecommunications notification) to FICORA. The notification obligation does not apply to public telecommunications if they are temporary, target a small audience, or otherwise are considered of minor significance. A Government decree may be issued with more detailed provisions addressing the types of telecommunications operations to be considered minor.

Network licences

As specified in section 4 of the Communications Market Act, the provision of network services in a digital terrestrial television and radio network is subject to a licence (i.e., a network licence). The licence grants authorisation to offer network services in terrestrial digital mass-communication networks. Licences are granted and declared to be open for application by the Government. According to section 5 of the Communications Market

Act, a licence is to be announced as available for application when frequencies that are technically appropriate and appropriate for efficient frequency use become available for the purposes of telecommunications subject to a licence.

Section 9 of the Communications Market Act includes provisions addressing the requirements for granting of a network licence. A licence must be granted if the applicant has sufficient economic resources to meet the network operation obligations, and if the licensing authority has no justifiable reason to suspect that the applicant will violate the provisions of the Communications Market Act, the Act on Radio Frequencies and Telecommunications Equipment, the Act on the Protection of Privacy in Electronic Communications, or any other law that governs telecommunications operations. According to legislation, if, because of frequency scarcity, licences cannot be granted to all applicants, they are granted to those applicants whose operations best promote the objectives set out in section 1 of the Communications Market Act.

According to section 1 of the Communications Market Act, the objective of the act is to promote the provision and use of services within communication networks and to ensure that communication networks and communication services are available under reasonable conditions to all telecommunications operators and users throughout the country. A further objective of the act is to ensure that the opportunities for telecommunications in Finland match the reasonable needs of users and that the opportunities are competitive, technologically advanced, of high quality, reliable, safe and inexpensive.

In practice, this licence-granting procedure too is a ‘beauty contest’ in which applications are assessed from the perspectives described above.

Short-term licences

Licences for short-term television and radio operations are granted by FICORA. FICORA may also grant a licence for radio operations in the analogue broadcasting network if the duration of operations does not exceed three months. The licence must be granted if frequencies are available and there is no reason to suspect that the applicant will violate the provisions of the Television and Radio Act or any other act governing television and radio operations.

FICORA may grant a licence for television or radio operations in a digital broadcasting network if:

- The duration of the operations will not exceed three months

- The weekly duration of the operations does not exceed eight hours

- Operations in the broadcasting network are implemented via DVB-H or a corresponding standard.

FICORA must grant a licence if there is no justified reason to suspect that the applicant will violate laws governing television and radio operations.

Auctioned licences

In 2009, television operation licences in Finland were granted through an auction. According to section 4 of the Act on Auctioning Certain Radio Frequencies (462/2009), the Government shall grant a licence as referred to in the act to the enterprise or other organisation that has made the highest valid bid for the frequency band or frequency pair in the auction unless the licensing authority has especially weighty reasons to suspect that granting the licence to the applicant in question would apparently place national security at risk. Under that section, a licence may be granted for a maximum period of

20 years. The act, as currently formulated, is to be applied only to granting of licences in the 2.6 GHz spectrum band.