SlovakiaMedia Services Act: retransmission and carriage of multimodal access by retransmission operators and terrestrial multiplex providers
§ 30 ods. 1 písm. c) a ods. 4 a § 37 ods. 2 písm. d) zákona č. 264/2022 Z. z. o mediálnych službách a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov (zákon o mediálnych službách)
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you are a retransmission operator, retransmit the multimodal access (subtitles for persons with hearing impairment, Slovak sign language interpretation, audio description) where it forms part of the broadcasting of a television programme service (s. 30(1)(c) and 14(6)).
- If the equipment you supply to an end user cannot carry the multimodal access for technical reasons, supply that end user, on written request and within 30 days, equipment that allows reception including multimodal access, on the same terms as the original equipment (s. 30(4)).
- The duty does not reach retransmission without economic activity under section 29(2), such as within one building not used commercially or to no more than 100 subscribers, and the regulator cannot lift it (s. 30(3) and (5)).
- If you provide a terrestrial multiplex, do not restrict a broadcaster without reason in providing supplementary broadcasting services, and let it provide multimodal access to its programme service (s. 37(2)(d)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Section 141(1)(a) requires the Council for Media Services to fine a retransmission operator from 100 to 33,000 euro for failing to meet section 30(1) and (4), and section 147(1)(f) requires the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services to fine a multiplex provider from 660 to 16,600 euro for breaching section 37(2)(d). Under section 140(1) the Council imposes a fine if the person, despite a warning, repeatedly breached the same duty.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Minimum
- 100
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 33,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Council for Media Services (Rada pre mediálne služby), the regulator under the Media Services Act, for retransmission operators, and the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (Úrad pre reguláciu elektronických komunikácií a poštových služieb) for multiplex providers
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- a retransmission operator (prevádzkovateľ retransmisie), other than for a retransmission without economic activity that section 29(2) does not count as retransmission: one within a single building or complex of buildings not used commercially, one of only the programme services of a broadcaster established by law, one excluded from registration by a special regulation or a treaty, one provided by a single person so that no more than 100 subscribers may receive it, or one over the internet of only programme services broadcast over the internet (section 30(3))
- a provider of a terrestrial multiplex (poskytovateľ multiplexu, ktorý poskytuje terestriálny multiplex), for section 37(2)(d)
What this law does
Section 14(6) defines multimodal access to a programme service as a supplementary broadcasting service broadcast alongside the television programme service that gives deaf or blind persons access to its programmes, in particular through subtitles for persons with hearing impairment, interpretation into Slovak sign language and audio description.
Section 30(1)(c) obliges a retransmission operator to retransmit the multimodal access to a programme service where it forms part of the broadcasting of the television programme service.
Section 30(4) lifts that duty where the technical equipment the operator supplies to an end user cannot carry the multimodal access for technical reasons, but obliges the operator, on the end user's written request, to supply within 30 days equipment that allows reception including multimodal access, on the same terms as the original equipment.
Section 30(3) leaves out of section 30(1) the retransmission under section 29(2), which is retransmission without economic activity that the Act does not count as retransmission for registration. Section 30(5) lets the regulator relieve a retransmission operator only of the duties of section 30(1)(a) and (b), not of the multimodal access duty of section 30(1)(c).
Section 37(2)(d) obliges a provider of a terrestrial multiplex not to restrict a broadcaster without reason in providing supplementary broadcasting services, and in particular to let it provide multimodal access to its programme service. Section 141(1)(a) requires the regulator to fine a retransmission operator from 100 to 33,000 euro for failing to meet the duties of section 30(1) and (4).
Section 147(1)(f) requires the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services to fine a provider of a multiplex from 660 to 16,600 euro for breaching section 37(2)(d). Section 12(6) of the Media Services Act refers to the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services as the Office (úrad).
Section 140(1) has the Council for Media Services, the regulator, impose a fine if the person, despite a warning, repeatedly breached the same duty, a repeat being a breach less than three years after the earlier breach of that duty. Article XIV of the Media Services Act takes effect on apart from the exceptions it names. The Annex to the Media Services Act lists Directive 2010/13/EU among the acts it takes over.
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