Belgian incumbent telecom operator Belgacom has filed a complaint with the court of first instance in Antwerp about the acquisition of the Interkabel TV activities by Telenet. The company claims that the sale is illegal, because the cable networks making up the Interkabel consortium are owned by a number of municipalities. Under European law, as public companies they should have started an open tender rather than make a deal between closed doors. The court will start proceedings in March. Until that date, Telenet and Interkabel are not able to integrate the TV activities of the two companies.
About Robert Briel
Arnhem-based Robert covers the Benelux, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as IPTV, web TV, connected TV and OTT. Email Robert at rbriel@broadbandtvnews.com.