80 illegal IPTV providers, says broadcast regulator

The National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting says that as of late-February 2013 it had issued 38 companies with a total of 55 IPTV operating licences, whilst there were 49 pending IPTV licence applications. However, according to the regulator there are also around 80 operators providing IPTV services without a legal permit, reports ProIT. A statement coming from the National Council’s seminar in Ivano-Frankivsk declared that the unlicensed IPTV operators’ illegal actions ‘will continue to be under the scrutiny of the national regulator and the relevant law enforcement authorities.’ TeleGeography notes that major operators in Ukraine including Ukrtelecom and Kyivstar have been frustrated in their plans to launch nationwide commercial IPTV services by the largely unexplained withholding of IPTV concessions by the broadcasting watchdog.