Today, Friday August 6, Dutch cablers UPC and Ziggo are taking Tele 2 to court for unfair advertising practices. In two separate cases, the cable operators argue that Tele 2 is making an unfair claim of selling cable TV services “from €5.00”.
According to UPC, Tele 2 is unclear in its advertising that the €5 offer is only good as part of a full prduct bundle including IPTV, telephony and broadband internet access. Ziggo argues that the product Tele 2 is selling concerns only the analogue cable TV product, not the full range of digital TV and additional services.
As a result of the Open Cable ruling by Dutch telecoms watchdog OPTA, Tele 2 has started selling analogue cable TV as part of their product portfolio. The company has set different pricing levels for the product ranging from €5.00 to €15.00. The cost price to Tele 2 is around €8.50, which the operator has to pay to UPC or Ziggo.
The procedures are part of an ongoing war-of-words between the operators. Some time ago, KPN and Tele 2 accused UPC of unfair advertising practices when comparing prices between the various bundles. As a result, UPC had to correct its advertising.
