|
|
|
Fairfax suspends datacasting trial in Sydney - Canberra trial in doubt due to pending legislation SYDNEY, June 9, 2000 – John Fairfax Holdings Limited [ASX:FXJ] said today it was suspending its planned trials for datacasting in Sydney, which were scheduled to commence in July, due to the substantial deficiencies in the digital television legislation pending in the Senate. Fairfax said that it would assess whether to proceed with datacasting trials in Canberra, scheduled for October and November this year, depending on subsequent legislative and policy developments in this area. Mr Fred Hilmer, Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax, said: "We have consistently stated in our representations in Canberra that the Bill as it stands today will not permit us to proceed with a viable datacasting service on a commercially sustainable basis. We have several concerns with the Bill as currently drafted. "We have serious objections to the restrictive definition of datacasting. We cannot, for example, provide current affairs in conjunction with news. The current definition of e-commerce information programs means that they must be devoid of the entertainment values that are essential to making these programs attractive to viewers. "We are unable to deliver on a commercially viable basis the datacasting of Internet sites, because we are required to censor the Net to conform to the program content rules. "In an age of technology convergence, there is substantial uncertainty regarding the terms and conditions of the datacasting licenses, which increases the risk of investment in these licences. "In addition, the Bill gives the ABA unprecedented authority to drive datacasting programs off the air before the legal merits of a challenge to the program are determined. "The datacasting trials will involve the expenditure in the order of a million dollars. This expenditure of shareholders’ money cannot be justified given the present state of the legislation. "We will continue to seek legislation that will make what is potentially the most widely available and readily accessible broadband platform in the country available to provide attractive datacasting services to the public." -- ENDS -- For further information, please contact: Bruce
Wolpe **************** Note to editors John Fairfax Holdings [ASX:FXJ] is Australia’s leading publishing group. Its mastheads include The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Sun-Herald, and BRW. In addition, the Company publishes financial and consumer magazines, and provides online and interactive services. In 1999, the Company had revenues of over $1.1 billion. Fairfax, through f2, its wholly owned subsidiary for its online and interactive businesses, is building a strong position in ecommerce and is Australia’s leading content provider on the Internet, with over 2.3 million page views per day (2.4 million site visits per week) across a network of sites including news, business, investing, personal finance, motoring, sports, auctions, property, employment, freemail, search/homepage, shopping, travel, technology, city guides, and directories.
|
|
Fairfax > Corporate Affairs & Media Releases > Announcements > DATACASTING
|
|
