Singapore's media authority warns telcos of 'suggesting' unfair practices

"It will be taken very seriously".

Here's what ContentAsia wrote in an article regarding the issue:

Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) has stepped back into the country’s English Premier League (BPL) rights fracas, saying that “any suggestion” that the authority had not upheld principles of fair market conduct and effective competition in Singapore’s media industry “will be taken very seriously”.

The statement comes in the wake of fierce resistance by leading pay-TV player StarHub to the way the BPL rights negotiations had been conducted.

Rival SingTel signed a non-exclusive deal for rights to the next three BPL seasons in October last year, and entered an exclusive negotiating period while terms of the deal were finalised. StarHub said this exclusive period was not in line with Singapore’s cross-carriage environment.

While StarHub has just started talking to the Premier League about its own set of rights for Singapore, the cable platform said all it wanted was “fair play”.

The MDA said that “as a regulator, our decisions are based on thorough, robust and fair assessment in accordance to due process. We will not be pressured by any party into doing otherwise.”

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