Belgian consumers protest against digital monopoly

The Belgian consumer organisation Test-Aankoop has launched a protest against what it calls the ‘digital monopoly’ of the cable and IPTV operators in the country. Viewers have little or no choice when it comes to subscribing to digital TV services.Test-Aankoop claims that the two large cable companies, Telenet in Flanders and VOO in Wallonia, offer no choice in set top boxes, that are too expensive and not of very good quality. They also critise the pricing of the extended tiers and lack of flexibility.  IPTV provider Belgacom is no alternative, as the company only offers TV services as part of a broadband access product. There are no real alternatives, only DTH provider TV Vlaanderen in the Dutch speaking part of the country. The DTT networks in the two parts of the country are not yet a real alternative, since they only broadcast the public channels.