Virgin Media’s 3.3 million cable viewers face the prospect of many months without basic Sky channels after the bitter row between the two rivals reached the High Court.

The cable operator yesterday announced it had begun action against Sky — the satellite operator 39.1 per cent-owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times — over an alleged abuse of its dominant position.

The action, which Sky is expected to defend, follows the removal of channels from Virgin’s households in February after a row over what Virgin should pay to carry them.

The increased price demanded by Sky, combined with a recently negotiated sharp cut in the price Sky pays to carry Virgin channels, amounts, Virgin claimed, to an abuse of Sky’s position. The cable group, formerly NTL, said its proceedings were based on Section 18 of the UK Competition Act and Article 82 of the EC Treaty. Sky has 28 days to serve its defence. Any action is not expected until autumn.

In its statement Virgin said: “Sky demanded a price for its basic channels that was some 17 times greater than it was prepared to pay for the Virgin Media TV channels . . . This disparity is just one manifestation of Sky’s systematic abuse of its dominant position”.

Sky declared the action “without foundation” and an unnecessary obstacle to bringing back its basic channels to Virgin Media customers. It added: “Increasingly, customers will ask whether Virgin Media is putting its own financial interests before giving them the service they want.”

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