Court okays merger of cable TV providers

THE appeals court has denied GMA Network’s appeal to stop the merger of cable firms Skycable, Homecable and Pilipino Cable Corp. while a complaint against it remains pending, saying it is better to let the National Telecommunications Commission to decide on the case.

“[The commission] is in the best position to judge matters relating to the broadcasting industry as it is presumed to have an unparalleled understanding of its market and commercial conditions,” the court said.

“Moreover, it is the [commission] that has the information, statistics and data peculiar to the television broadcasting industry.”

The court also declined to rule on GMA’s claim that the cable companies’ consolidation is unlawful and unconstitutional, saying the commission’s regulatory powers over broadcasting and cable television extends to ownership and regulation.

GMA Network petitioned the commission in 2003 to compel the three cable firms to restore its clear signal and to free it from distortion in their cable systems. It also asked the agency to void their merger.

The network then went to the appeals court after the commission denied its petition, saying it had yet to receive evidence on the matter from the conflicting sides.

But the appeals court agreed with the commission and the three cable firms, who argued that a cease-and-desist order against them would be too early since it would be tantamount to solving the case without the hearings being finished.

It said resolving the issues in GMA’s complaint would entail the use of the commission’s technical standards, and that it could not engage in fact-finding because it would void the rationale for the creation of fact-finding agencies and threaten the “speedy and cheap administrative resolution of controversies.”

“The capability of administrative agencies to draw specialized inferences based on their experience would be lost,” the court said.

“Administrative agencies would become little more than evidence gatherers, and most decisional responsibility would be shifted to the judiciary.” Rey E. Requejo