EC to investigate Numéricâble
July 18, 2013 08.17 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul
numericableThe European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into whether the transfer of public cable infrastructure by around 33 municipalities to France’s leading operator Numéricâble was in accordance with EU state rules.
Numéricâble received the infrastructure for free between 2003 and 2006 and the Commission says that at this stage it has doubts that such aid could have been compatible with the rules.
In a statement, it adds that: “the transfers do not constitute a Service of General Economic Interest (SGEI) because France has entrusted no public service obligation to Numéricâble. Furthermore, these transfers do not appear to further any objective of common interest in a proportional manner, while they have a high potential of distorting competition with other operators in the same area.”
Numéricâble is owned by YPSO and following a series of M&A now effectively the only cable operator in France, claiming a 99.6% share of the market.
It is, according to the Commission, also a very important player in the deployment of next generation access (NGA) networks, having already taken advantage of its cable network by replacing the cable and installing FTTB.
July 18, 2013 08.17 Europe/London By Chris Dziadul
numericableThe European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into whether the transfer of public cable infrastructure by around 33 municipalities to France’s leading operator Numéricâble was in accordance with EU state rules.
Numéricâble received the infrastructure for free between 2003 and 2006 and the Commission says that at this stage it has doubts that such aid could have been compatible with the rules.
In a statement, it adds that: “the transfers do not constitute a Service of General Economic Interest (SGEI) because France has entrusted no public service obligation to Numéricâble. Furthermore, these transfers do not appear to further any objective of common interest in a proportional manner, while they have a high potential of distorting competition with other operators in the same area.”
Numéricâble is owned by YPSO and following a series of M&A now effectively the only cable operator in France, claiming a 99.6% share of the market.
It is, according to the Commission, also a very important player in the deployment of next generation access (NGA) networks, having already taken advantage of its cable network by replacing the cable and installing FTTB.