British expats in Gibraltar could find themselves unable to access British TV following a difficult legal dispute.
Two of the territory’s biggest telecoms companies are in a fierce dispute after state-owned Gibtelecom filed a lawsuit against rival GibFibre. Gibtelecom claim that GlibFibre is illegally providing English language TV services without a licence.
Their lawyers say GibFibre – and its sister company GibSat – are attempting to harm Gibtelecom’s business by bundling such TV services along with its broadband packages. If the lawsuit is successful, Brits on the peninsula could find themselves without their favourite shows on the box.
Popular shows such as Love Island, Happy Valley and The Traitors could all become unavailable for expats.
Gibtelecom have now applied for an injunction to shut down access to TV channels including BBC 1, ITV and Sky through GibSat.
GibFibre has branded the claims as “embarrassing”, however. They claim the state-run broadcaster is launching the legal battle in retaliation amid a dispute over access to crucial data centres in Gibraltar, reported the Telegraph.
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.”
GibFibre has accused Gibtelecom of anti-competitive behaviour, with a source close to the case reportedly saying they were seeking £14million in damages over access to the Mount Pleasant data center.
Disputes over whether broadcasters can show TV from the UK on the peninsula are frequent as a result.
In one instance, access to Sky channels was blocked in 2019 as a result of unlicensed broadcasting. However, an intense public backlash meant that both companies turned the channels back on before the 48-hour blackout was over.
