British media regulator Ofcom is to launch an investigation into the pay-TV market in the wake of a public battle between BSkyB and Virgin Media which saw Sky channels pulled from the Virgin service.
The Office of Communications said it would look into competition issues in the pay-TV industry, which includes cable, digital terrestrial television, satellite and TV through broadband, known as TV over DSL.
The decision came after the watchdog received a number of complaints regarding the loss of BSkyB channels on Virgin Media's pay-TV service.
Ofcom has also been asked by other broadcasters, such as BT, Setanta, Top Up TV and Virgin Media, to look at the market to see if competition rules have been broken.
Ofcom is currently holding an inquiry into BSkyB's £940m raid on ITV shares in November to see if Sky's acquisition of a 17.9% stake in the broadcaster led to a 'change in control'. The watchdog is due to report its findings to Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling by April 27.
At the same time, it is also looking into complaints from Virgin Media, which accused Sky of acting 'anti-competitively' after the Sky deal blocked a takeover attempt by the cable company then known as NTL.
Separately, BSkyB has unveiled plans to launch a new pay-TV service on Freeview, the digital terrestrial television platform. The investigation process could take a number of months.
