Belgium: Gov to open up cable, fiber networks to more competition

Belgian telecoms and media regulators have called for more competition in the country’s pay TV and broadband markets and proposed a number of new measures to achieve this.

The four regulators covering both the Flemish and French-speaking regions of the country, the Vlaamse Regulator voor de Media, the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel, the Medienrat, and BIPT, have said that the broadband and pay TV markets are “still characterised by competition shortcomings” and that the objectives of the existing regulatory framework have not been met.

The regulators found that leading players Proximus, Telenet, Brutélé and Nethys — operating under the Voo brand — and Coditel — operating under the SFR brand — still have “significant market power on the relevant wholesale markets”.

The watchdogs said they would extend the obligation placed on the operator to enable third-party players to access their networks to “allow real competition for broadband internet, television and bundled offers to develop”.

Full Content: Telecom Paper

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