Following the proposed joint venture between Vodafone and Liberty Global’s Ziggo, the Dutch government is looking into the possibility to open up Dutch cable networks to third parties.
Henk Kamp, the minister of economic affairs, said that following the announcement of the merger between Vodafone and Ziggo it is even more important that the cable network is opened to third parties.
For some time, the minister has been looking to increase competition on the cable network, such as is already the case on the incumbents network (KPN), rather than just competition between networks.
Kamp believes it is important that competition occurs on that network, “so that consumers can continue to choose from a variety of subscriptions to telephony and internet.”
However, opening up the cable network requires a change in EU rules, because the current legislation ensures that only that one network can be regulated. The adaptation of European rules, thanks to the merger, is “more important” according to Kamp.
Meanwhile, Ziggo and Vodafone maintain that by joining forces the market will see increased competition.
At the moment, KPN is rapidly gaining market share in the Dutch TV market, while the new Ziggo continues to lose subscribers.
Indeed, Ziggo lost more than 50,000 in Q4 2015, ending the year with 4.09 million.
