One of the TV channels granted only a temporary broadcasting permit during the recent round of terrestrial broadcast licensing for private TV channels by the Italian Ministry for Communications was Rete 4, owned by the Mediaset TV holding company. Commenting on the decision, Communications Minister Salvatore Cardinale said: "It’s not up to me to decide when Rete 4 will have to go on satellite, but my personal opinion is that it will not happen before the end of 2001." He underlined that the ministry only followed the existing rules and that it will be the task of the Communications Authority, "once it ascertains the existence of a significant number of satellite dishes, to establish the date for the switchover to satellite". Asked to define the term "significant", Cardinale said that it means that at least 10 per cent of the TV households have a satellite dish.