Hong Kong– The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) commended the Singapore government for not intervening in exclusive carriage agreements in the country’s pay-TV industry. New IPTV service provider SingTel’s appeal to have cabler StarHub provide wholesale access to key content had been initially rejected by the Media Development Authority of Singapore on May 10, 2006 on grounds that the latter’s deals do not necessarily restrict competition in the local market. Its decision was then upheld by Singapore’s Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA), Lee Boon Yang, who turned down SingTel’s second appeal on July 27 this year, based on a three-year study on the impact of exclusive carriage contracts. Minister Lee stated SingTel had been unable to prove that StarHub’s agreements ‘foreclose potential entrants’ access to key content in the market.