Channels 7 and 9 are back on air in CableVision households after Government stepped into the stand-off with the Bermuda Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The Telecommunications Commission yesterday sought, and was granted, an injunction ordering the cable company to restore ZBM and ZFB to its schedule. The channels were switched back on at around 6.20 p.m.

The Commission is also to appeal Chief Justice Richard Ground's ruling that CableVision did not have to seek its consent before removing the BBC programmes.

A Government spokeswoman said Justice Ian Kawaley granted the injunction application in the Supreme Court at 4 p.m.

"The Supreme Court Order obliges CableVision to continue to provide this service, including channels 7 and 9, until the Commission's appeal against the judgment of the Hon. Richard Ground Q.C. CJ, dated January 9 2009, has been determined or a further Order of the Court," said the spokeswoman.

"It is anticipated that, given the urgency of the matter, the appeal will be heard and determined in March 2009."

CableVision however, intends to fight the appeal. General manager Terry Roberson said yesterday: "We will return to court and will continue to uphold and protect the interests of our customers. We stand by the actions we have taken to date.

"Just as the new law allows Bermuda Broadcasting to demand payment under retransmission consent, it also allows CV to decline paying and remove the channels from our line-up.

"We were happy to carry the channels for all these years free of charge to the broadcasters and free to customers.

"But the new situation, we feel, is discriminatory to our customers who would suddenly be forced to pay for a service that anyone with an antenna can receive for free."

Meanwhile, the Commission is to conduct an inquiry into whether: Cablevision has lawfully elected to provide a new service without channels 7 and 9; Cablevision has filed a tariff for that service and if so, what should be charged; and if not, what payments CableVision should make to BBC for channels 7 and 9.

It also intends to survey CableVision subscribers and the public – "the answers to which (questionnaires) will greatly assist those enquiries", said the spokeswoman.

She said: "The Commission is determined that the rates to be charged by CableVision for its proposed new service, shall in all respects take into account the considerations in section 24 of the Telecommunications Act 1986 including, in particular, the Public Interest.

"In the meanwhile, the Commission will do all it can within its legal powers to ensure that CableVision maintains its existing service, including channels 7 and 9, until those inquiries are complete and the Commission has reached the necessary consequential decisions."

Last night Mr. Roberson said: "We have today received the injunction instructing us to restore service of channels 7 and 9 on our system, and we will be complying immediately.

"We have been instructed to keep these channels on air for the time it will take to learn the outcome of an appeal by the Telecommunications Commission on the recent judgment by the Chief Justice, who had ruled in favour of CableVision. We will be placing these channels back on air this evening."

He said: "We are very sorry for the inconvenience this process is causing our customers, and while it may seem in the midst of this changing situation that we do not wish to carry channels 7 and 9, or that we are not concerned about our customers, nothing could be further from the truth.

"The entire basis of our position is to protect the interests of our customers and to make sure they do not have to pay for a service that others can receive for free. We have always said that the old 'must carry' laws were best, and we have shown ourselves to be more than willing to continue carrying the channels for free as always.

"However the law has changed, allowing the broadcasters to demand payment, but also allowing the cable companies to opt out of carrying the channels if that transpires. We hope customers will understand that we are exercising our right to protect their interests."

Yesterday however, it appeared that some customers were so disgruntled by the situation they were switching to another provider. WOW (World On Wireless Ltd.) reported an increase in sales from Wednesday onwards.

President and CEO Stanley Wright said: "We have seen an increase in volume today. I don't have any numbers at this point but business is quite a bit higher than normal.

"We started taking calls last night and it started again at 7.30 this morning. We've seen a steady flow of calls and requests for sign-up forms since."

Mr. Wright said that since coming to an agreement with BBC to continue to screen ZBM and ZFB, WOW has not made any additional charges.

"We've not passed on any costs to our customers and it's not our intent to do so," said Mr. Wright. We feel it's local programming at the end of the day and feel our customers should have access to it."

CableVision dropped Channels 7 and 9 at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, giving subscribers less than an hour's notice of the action. The company last night said it had received 41 complaints.

Asked why the switch-off took place at 5 p.m. rather than earlier in the day, and not more notice was given to customers, a spokeswoman told The Royal Gazette: "CableVision provided notification in December to subscribers via the newspaper and direct mail that the networks would be removed.

"We originally provided notice that the channels would go off the air on December 11 and that was held up until the legal issues could be addressed.

"Once the judge made his ruling we had to take the channels off the air since Bermuda Broadcasting had chosen retransmission consent, requiring payment for further carriage of their channels on our system.

"We know that this is an uncomfortable situation for many viewers but we had little flexibility to determine when the channels should be removed."