Gibraltar expats risk losing access to British television

EXPATS in Gibraltar could be left without access to their favourite British TV shows amid a legal battle between two of the territory’s biggest telecoms companies.

State-owned Gibtelecom has filed a lawsuit against rival Gibfibre over claims its broadcasting arm is illegally providing English-language TV services without a licence.

Lawyers for the company have accused Gibfibre and its sister company Gibsat of conspiring to harm Gibtelecom’s business interests by bundling together these TV services with its broadband packages.

Gibtelecom has applied for an injunction to stop access to TV channels including BBC 1, ITV and Sky through Gibsat. If successful, this would leave households in the British Overseas Territory unable to see shows such as Love Island, Happy Valley and The Traitors.

Gibfibre has branded the claims “embarrassing” and accused its stateowned rival of launching the legal battle in retaliation for a long-running dispute over access to crucial data centres in Gibraltar.

A spokesman for Gibfibre said: “Gibfibre acts in the best interests of its customers and for Gibraltar by providing greater competition in the telecoms sector which increases innovation and brings down prices for everyone.

“The government-owned Gibtelecom has spent eight years trying to block us from providing competition in data services.

“Gibraltarians should not be punished with threats by the Government to cut off their access to UK TV content in retaliation for us standing up for competition and consumer rights.”

The two companies have been locked in a separate legal tussle for almost a decade after Gibfibre accused Gibtelecom of denying it access to Mount Pleasant, the territory’s largest data centre. Gibfibre, which is family-owned, has accused its rival of anti-competitive behaviour. A source close to the case said the company was seeking £14million in damages.

Gibtelecom has denied these claims. A trial is due to begin in Gibraltar’s Supreme Court on Monday. Gibtelecom has been contacted for comment.