Virgin Media lodges complaint to Ofcom about Project Canvas

In a move that was widely predicted, Virgin Media has lodged an official complaint with industry watchdog Ofcom in relation to Project Canvas. The cable company maintains that the video-on-demand TV venture is anti-competitive.

If nothing else the move will act as a stalling measure, with Project Canvas having already negotiated its way past regulatory guidelines, the Office of Fair Trading and the BBC Trust.

Project Canvas is a joint collaboration between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, BT, TalkTalk and Arqiva but Virgin Media is unhappy stating that it will "Significantly and irreperably harm competition" and states that it breaches the Competition Act of 1998, as well as European law.

BSkyB has also been opposed to the Project Canvas venture and is said to be considering whether or not to lodge a formal complaint of its own. Following the opposition put forward by Virgin Media, Ofcom will have to make a decision about whether or not to undertake a Competition Act enquiry. It should decide on this within the next two months.

A Virgin Media spokesperson said: "We have not taken the decision to file this complaint lightly. We have worked with both the BBC and their joint venture partners successfully in the past to bring exciting new services to consumers, such as when we were the first to make BBC iPlayer available via the television screen.

"However, the Canvas partners have significantly exceeded their original claims to be creating a common set of open standards which could have been improved upon by others and are now intent on controlling every aspect of how people watch TV."

"The BBC Trust has already acknowledged, but then completely ignored, the impact that Canvas will have on so many different organisations; from consumer electronics firms to software developers and enterprising new technology manufacturers to independent programme makers."

"We strongly urge Ofcom, supported by the OFT, to thoroughly examine Project Canvas and its clear anti-competitive behaviour."