THE expected introduction to the market of new media companies such as Netflix and iVu present a challenge to traditional media providers and cable companies, according to executive director of the Broadcasting Commission, Cordel Green.

However, despite the rapid changes in the media landscape, Green sees opportunities ahead for media companies that can provide quality programming at reasonable cost.

Green said approximately $6.53 billion or US$77.7 million in total revenue was collected in the electronic communications sector in 2010, which accounted for 1.35 per cent of the gross domestic product that year, citing data from the Planning Institute of Jamaica.

Addressing a meeting of the Lions Club of Kingston last week, Green disclosed that Netflix — an international Internet-based programme provider — has announced its intention to begin offering services to the Caribbean and Latin America, including Jamaica, while a similar local-based Internet Protocol television (IPTV) company called iVu announced plans to launch in Jamaica later this year.

“These developments portend some degree of ‘trouble’ for existing wired cable operators,” Green said, noting that online television providers will be able to deliver content at lower cost than subscriber television (STV) providers.

The Broadcasting Commission head raised the question as to the fairness of charging regulatory fees to existing STV operations, while the IPTV operators make no contribution. “I will reserve further comment on this matter for the moment, because it is the subject of a pending legal review by the Attorney General,” he noted.

He said proposed amendments to the broadcasting legislation will settle the matter shortly.

Meanwhile despite the challenges, Green said the Jamaican electronic communications sector remains viable with the potential to increase its already significant share of national income, if properly managed, within a well co-ordinated regulatory and policy environment.

“This is the context in which we argue that the transition to a fully digital platform, beginning in 2015, represents an opportunity for the sector to bring a fresh value proposition to consumers who are increasingly being drawn to alternative mobile digital platforms and communication devices, such as television enabled tablet PCs, cell-phones, and other internet based media,” Green stated.