Ministry Preparing to Sell Sole TV Broadcast Operator
The Economic Affairs Ministry is preparing to sell the terrestrial TV and radio broadcast operator Levira.
Estonia is claiming the company has shifted its focus from just transmitting TV signal and has become a telecommunications company. Administering such companies is not up to the state, reported ETV.
The state owns 51 percent of the company. The French company TDF Group owns the rest.
Head of the Economic Affairs Ministry's communications department Tõnu Nirk said TDF is has shown interest in selling their share in the company. The company's spokesman Aymeric de Cardes did not comment on this, but added the company is not interested in buying out the majority share.
Levira is the owner of 23 transmitter towers across Estonia, including the popular tourist attraction Tallinn TV Tower. Nirk said when drafted, the sale conditions would stipulate it must remain open to the public after the sale.
The company has been taken to court by the Estonian TV channels who are trying to reclaim past transmission fees. Levira allegedly abused its monopoly position by earning excessive profits. Nirk said this will not affect the decision to sell.
Commercial channel Kanal 2 director Urmas Oru said potential buyers must take the ongoing court cases into account upon purchase. Oru said the state has put little into the company besides collecting dividends and that the French company has been taking the reins on development and its operation.
Levira successfully kicked off Digital Terrestrial Television in Estonia and as of the end of 2007, more than 95 percent of Estonian households had been covered with up to 30 digital local and foreign channels. The analog TV signal was switched off in 2010.