The networks are in place and the investment made. Their economic value lies in the traffic on them. Access is a deregulatory issue. The test must fit the facts. But where they share the incentive to prefer their own services over others' and where the market will support only a few such network or gateway operators, then reasonable access conditions should apply.
Competition is a necessary condition for the delivery of diversity in output.
It has brought a great expansion in choice in both radio and television. Large scale spending on original output requires a guarantee of large audiences. But there are no guarantees. For these reasons, the UK has devoted a bigger share of resource to public service broadcasting than any other nation. The Nation is entitled to know whether it is getting value for money.