Cyfra+ prepares to have TVP, other stations on air this week

Lew Rywin, president of Canal+ Polska which is the driving force behind Cyfra+, said all channels would be restored to the platform by uplinking them from a facility within Poland. He declined to say, however, where that facility was or who owned it.
Rywin did say that the facility already has a license from the Communications Ministry to uplink transmissions. The lack of such a license caused the State Radio-Communications Agency (PAR) to yank the four channels from Cyfra+ two weeks ago. (WBJ, Nov. 23-29, 1998)
Canal+ does not want to repeat such a programming disruption. The four channels yanked were TVP1, TVP2, Nasza TV and TMT. "I don't want to declare another war with the Communications Ministry," Rywin said.
The ministry may make life easier for Cyfra+ in the near future, however. The ministry could grant Canal+ a temporary license for its uplink facility allowing Cyfra+ to resume operations as they were three weeks ago, said Michal Duszak, a member of the managing board of Aster City Cable, which is part of Cyfra+.
Canal+ has applied for a permit for its uplink facility. According to specialists from PAR, the procedure, particularly during the winter, can take a few months. To initiate testing as part of the licensing procedure, which is usually carried out by the Warsaw Institute of Telecommunications, the uplink facility is usually given a temporary permit that allows for transmissions.
"During our meeting last Wednesday, I asked (Communications) Minister (Marek) Zdrojewski specifically when we will get the permit, but he did not give me the answer," Rywin said last week. "That's why we'll have to use another device."
Getting a temporary license could be important for Canal+. While there are more than a thousand licensed, uplink stations operating around the country, mainly in telecom services, only a few if any could uplink a television signal for Cyfra+, according to an engineer in PAR who did not want to be named. "The platform sends its signal on a specific satellite from the EutelSat fleet using a very specific frequency," the engineer said. "Most of the operators in the country would have to seriously upgrade their stations to send the signal together with their regular signals."
As Cyfra+ tried to work out its operating difficulties, the players behind the Polish Digital Platform (PPC), which is the company that operates Cyfra+, were preparing to finalize the articles of incorporation for the company. The parties involved - Canal+, TVP, Polsat, Aster City and Nasza TV - are expected to sign the document and an accompanying shareholders agreement this Wednesday afternoon.
According to Duszak, all broadcasters agreed to sign the documents on the basis of exclusivity. "It has nothing to do with monopolistic practices, but with protection of your own business," he said. "You don't want a shareholder in your company to join a potential competitor and weaken your own market position."
While according to the executives behind the platform it will incorporate as a consortium of broadcasters and broadcast receivers, it will still be able to use a third party to uplink its signal. Only a month ago, this potential uplink operator was to be telecom monopolist Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA). But various officials contacted for this story said the negotiations have ended.