CSA’s Key 2011 Figures

The CSA held 50 plenary meetings at which: 10 opinions to the Government; 3 opinions to Autorité de la concurrence (competition authority); and 4 opinions to Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (electronic communications and posts regulatory authority) were issued. Editors were sent: 1 deliberation relating to pluralism during election periods; and 2 recommendations: one, in preparation for the election of the conseillers généraux; the other, for the presidential election. 30 hearings were held.

RADIO

ANALOGUE RADIO

With respect to analogue radio in mainland France (métropole): the Conseil granted licenses to use 1,188 frequencies; issued 10 partial calls for tenders; published the summary of inputs to 2 public consultations; renewed, or approved renewal, without calls for tenders, of, licenses relating to approximately 1,000 FM frequencies. In outre-mer (French overseas collectivités): 4 calls for tenders were published; and the licenses of 7 radio stations were renewed, or their renewal was approved.

DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL RADIO

Reaffirming its commitment in favour of the roll-out of digital terrestrial radio: the Conseil established 1 observatoire (monitoring body); authorised 3 long-term experimentations in Rouen, Lyon, and Marseilles; and published 1 call for tenders in the L Band. 2 new legal agreements (conventions) were entered into; and 35 registrations (déclarations) for radio services other than off-air were received.

TELEVISION

In preparation for digital switch-over: the Conseil ensured all 1,626 DTT transmitters were up and running; 1 call for tenders was published for 6 HD channels. With respect to on-demand audiovisual media services: 1 call for tenders was published; and 1 off-air terrestrial service was selected.

With respect to local television in mainland France (métropole): 13 new licenses were issued; 3 calls for tenders were published; and 9 public consultations were launched. In outre-mer (French overseas collectivités): 5 calls for tenders were published in relation to the licensing of new local channels on the OM1 network; and 2 simplex licenses were issued. 16 new legal agreements (conventions) were entered into; and 3 registrations (déclarations) were received in relation to services broadcast, or distributed, on networks not using frequencies allocated by the Conseil.

Following various breaches by operators, the Conseil issued 102 formal notices (mises en demeure); initiated 9 sanction proceedings; and handed down 2 sanctions. 43 foreign delegations were welcomed.

Totalling 3,270,000, i.e., almost 9 000 a day, the number of on-line visitors to www.csa.fr—the Conseil's website—slightly decreased when compared to 2010. However, at 2,546,535 compared with 700,000 the previous year, the number of RSS feeds leading to connections confirmed their role as the primary means of access to the site's information. The monthly average number of on-line messages to the Conseil was 522, compared to 524 in 2010; the steady flow results primarily from the large number of questions relating to television digital switch-over in 13 régions during the year.