Media regulator Ofcom announced today that it is to launch an investigation into the pay-TV market in the wake of the public battle between BSkyB and Virgin Media, which saw Sky channels pulled from the Virgin service.

The Office of Communications said it would look into competition issues in the pay-TV industry, which includes cable, digital terrestrial television, satellite and TV through broadband - known as TV over DSL.

The watchdog have received a number of complaints including those from other broadcasters, such as BT and Setanta.