It has been launched into a market alreday providing such a service, funded by a private sector player using hundreds of millions of pounds in risk investments. Diversity of voice is indeed an issue. Sky therefore wishes to see an end to licence fees funds used to create new services which distort competition and reduce diversity of voice. As the BBC continues to develop new commercial services there is also an increasing need for transparency in the way it handles its finances. If it wishes to maintain its privileged position and unique method of funding while at the same time operating increasingly in the commercial market, competitors need to be more confident that there is no cross subsidy between these two.
External accountability is needed if such confidence is to be achieved.
The BBC's use of the Internet is an example of the problems which a lack of transparency causes. But it raises advertising revenues form the site. That sort of use of public money to fund commercial activities is in danger of damaging the consensus for the licence fee. Finally SKY would oppose any proposal for an additional licence fee, automatically imposed on digital television sets in homes in order to supplement the BBC's already staggering income. This would penalise those who have undertaken their own high risk investments to create and launch digital services in the UK and would significantly slow the growth of digital and the achievement of the economic, employment, industrial and consumer and competition benefits sought by the government.