The EBU has written to the European Commission to express its concerns about the planned merger of Liberty Global (LG), the majority owner of Belgian cable company Telenet, and media groups Corelio, W&W and De Vijver Media.

95% of households in Belgium receive television via cable. Telenet is the dominant network provider in Flanders, holding 78% of the distribution market.

After the merger, the new company LG/Telenet will not only act as the "gatekeeper" to the cable network in Flanders, but it will also be active in content production and distribution through ownership of the Woestijnvis production house and TV channels VIER and VIJF. It will compete directly with other broadcasters in the retail markets, whilst controlling their access to the cable/internet network.

The EBU considers that the merger could have a severe impact on competition in the Belgian broadcasting markets, since the new company will have the incentive to squeeze out other broadcasters from the network to build its own retail market share.

Overall, the position of LG/Telenet in the Belgian market could even lead to the demise of domestic and cross-border PSM services. This is because there is currently no legal protection guaranteeing the access of a public service broadcaster's internet services (eg, on-demand) to the cable network. Similarly,  public service broadcasters often struggle to gain access to dominant cable networks in neighbouring countries.

Should the merger nevertheless go ahead, the EBU is asking the European Commission to impose remedies at least to ensure public broadcasters receive non-discriminatory and fair access to the LG/Telenet network in the future.

In response to growing concern about recent moves by telecom operators into pay-TV markets across the EU, the EBU's Media Intelligence Service (MIS) has also published a comprehensive report offering valuable facts and figures. It is available to Members via the Media Intelligence Portal