Telenet and the four municipal cable networks comprising Interkabel have signed an agreement to sell their analogue and digital TV business to Telenet. All four networks – Integan, Intermedia, PBE and WVEM – are based in Flanders and serve about 800,000 homes.
Telenet will pay €170 million for the right to run the TV business on the nets for a period of 38 years. On top of that, it will payan annual fee for the use of the cable networks, which remain owned by the cities. The transfer signals the end of an ongoing legal battle between Telenet and Interkabel about the roll out of interactive digital services on the Interkabel networks.
The acquisition of the TV business means that Telenet will serve all of Flanders, a total of approximately 2.5 million homes. Telenet will start to roll out its interactive digital TV service IDT to the whole Interkabel footprint during 2008. The existing digital In-Di customers will be able to continue to keep their subscription.
