The EU Directive 98/84 which covers the supply of Conditional Access and which British law in a CDPA revision adopted shows that a Sky EPG is not a form of Conditional Access which is supplied by BSkyB Group. BSkyB has been charging all Digital broadcasters on the Sky EPG an EPG fee that includes bundled costs for Sky set top box subsidies, which are only allowed to be charged to purchasers of Conditional Access or Access Control services. These subsidies are only allowed to be reclaimed from CA and AC customers if the Sky box offer is available to both non-Sky subscribers and Sky’s Pay TV subscribers on the same terms.

Ofcom has failed thus far to ensure that the UK law on Conditional Access and the supply of the EPG are followed and has allowed BSkyB to add non-EPG charges to the EPG fee. BSkyB in 2007 charged an approximate total of £85 million to channels for a simply EPG listing. Most of these charges are for ‘Platform Cost Contributions’.

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