We need a reform of the Rai license fee, from which today comes 61,3% of the total economic resources of public television. This was stated by the president of the Communications Regulatory Authority, Angelo Marcello Cardani, during his report to Parliament. In particular, according to the president of Agcom, "a reform of the public financing system is desirable in the name of simplification, social equalization and the effectiveness of collection".
[Rai fee: here's who doesn't have to pay]
TV, RADIO AND NEWSPAPERS: 2 BILLION BURNT IN 5 YEARS
Cardani then underlined that “the traditional media (newspapers, TV, radio) have overall lost almost 2 billion euros, with a reduction of 16% in the period 2010-2014, with peaks exceeding 30% in the case of newspapers. While television, also thanks to its entertainment function, maintains an important position, newspapers – he explains – are suffering from a structural decline”.
SKY FIRST TV FOR REVENUES, MEDIASET RETURNS SECOND
Furthermore, according to the data provided by Agcom's number one, in the Italian television sector Sky confirms its leadership in terms of revenues, with 34,1% of the total in 2014 (+1,4% over the year). Mediaset then returned to second position after falling back to third in 2013, with 27,85% of the entire amount (-0,7%). Rai, on the other hand, settled in third position with 27,2% (-1,5%).
ULTRA BROADBAND: COVERAGE IN ITALY 36% AGAINST 68% EU
In 2015, "if the gap is acceptable for broadband - added Cardani -, the indicators on ultra-broadband show a worrying degree of backwardness compared to Europe. Italy records a coverage level of 36% against 68% in the EU 28 and consequently a double digital divide compared to the European one, with regional situations reaching 100% (i.e. total absence of ultra-broadband networks) ”.
The situation is even worse if we consider the level of penetration: "Only 4% of households use connections higher than 30 Mbps (against 26% in the EU) and there are practically no connections higher than 100 Mbps (9% in the EU)”.
INVESTMENTS +0,7% IN 2014: +7,7% ON FIXED NETWORKS, -6,5% ON MOBILE
The Chairman of Agcom then communicated that in 2014 investments in the telecommunications sector grew by 0,9%, to 6 billion euros, with an increase of 7,7%, for the fixed network where 3,33, 1,4 billion euros. Of these, 6,6 billion were made by the so-called Olos, an increase of 6,5%. Investments in the mobile network fell by 2,66%, amounting to XNUMX billion.
EU GDP: POSSIBLE +4% IN 5 YEARS FROM DIGITAL PUSH
Cardani then revealed that, according to estimates by Brussels, a more incisive digitization policy could generate growth in the EU's GDP of 4% over the next five years, for a value of 520 billion euros at current prices: "Additional investments and growth in the demand for ICT make it possible to reduce the productivity gap between the European Union and the United States, equal to an average of 0,2% per year in the last ten years.
PIRACY: BLOCKED 6 SITES WITH 5 MILLION MUSIC FILES
Finally, with regard to anti-piracy measures, “the blocking of six music sites has prevented access to over 5 million illegally available music files. As of 12 June 2015, 283 requests for the removal of content protected by copyright had been presented which – due to withdrawals, mergers and archiving in the pre-investigation phase – gave rise to 165 proceedings, 162 of which have already been concluded. The inhibition orders, equal to 37% of the concluded proceedings, all concerned foreign sites manifestly dedicated to digital piracy”, concluded Cardani.
