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Virgin to take action against Eir over new TV service

By October 24, 2019 No Comments

Virgin to take action against Eir over new TV service

Internet and television provider Virgin Media is preparing for a High Court showdown with rival operator Eir.

The dispute centres on the inclusion of Virgin Media’s free-to-air television channels on Eir’s new Apple TV 4K set- top box, which was launched last week.

Virgin has claimed the channels were included in the newly revamped service without its approval, but it is understood Eir does not believe approval was needed.

Legal proceedings were initiated by Virgin Media Television Limited against Eircom Limited in the High Court on Tuesday.

In a statement to the Irish Independent, a spokesperson for Virgin Media said: “Eir’s insistence to include Virgin Media Television channels on their new Apple TV service, without prior approval, has left us with no other option but to issue legal proceedings to protect our rights and the rights of our content providers.”

An Eir spokesman said it could not comment as the matter is before the courts.

Virgin Media is being represented by heavyweight Dublin law firm Mason, Hayes and Curran in the matter.

The disagreement came to light within days of Eir formally announcing it would be using Apple TV boxes.

The announcement was accompanied by new offers which are expected to spark a price war with rival providers. According to an industry source the nub of the dispute is whether the new Eir TV product should be considered a television service or an “over the top” offering like Netflix and other similar streaming services.

It is understood Eir believes its new service should be considered a traditional television service, meaning Virgin would be obliged by regulations to allow its free-to-air channels to be carried.

However, it is thought the opposite view has been taken by Virgin.

The case is set to be mentioned before the fast-track commercial wing of the High Court early next month.

Further details are expected to be outlined then.

The row is not the first time that Virgin and Eir have clashed.

In 2016 Virgin Media decided to no longer carry Eir Sport (formerly Setanta Sports) and BT Sport channels due to a disagreement over the cost of carrying the then newly branded Eir Sport channels.

However, Virgin and Eir did agree a deal last August to carry each other’s sports channels. This gave Eir subscribers access to Virgin Media Sport and Virgin subscribers access to Eir Sport 1.

Irish Independent