The combined Belgian telecom and media regulators have finalised the rules for Open Cable access in the country.
The Conference of Regulators for the electronic communication sector (CRC), consisting of BIPT (telecommunications) and media regulators CSA, VRM and Medienrat, have set the rules for opening of the networks that are dominant in their markets. Last September, the regulators already published the technical requirements and have now finalised the process by publishing the wholesale pricing model.
Cable operators Brutele, Coditel (now Numericable), Tecteo (under the VOO brand) and Telenet are required to give alternative providers access to their analogue TV, digital TV, VOD and broadband services.
The pricing consists of a one-time set-up fee of €750.000, and a monthly fee for €2 for analogue TV, EUR4 for digital TV and EUR5 for TV and broadband access. Once an alternative operator has expressed interest, the cable networks are required to offer access within six months of payment of the set-up fee.
The question now is – will alternative operators be interested in gaining access to the country’s cable nets? KPN”s Snow already has access to Begacom’s infrastructure and Mobistar is so far the only party expressing an interest in starting to offer TV and broadband services over the networks.
