UPC chief calls for further consolidation in Poland

Frans-Willem de Kloet

Consolidation of Polish cable is vital to provide a serious competitor to Orange, according to UPC Poland chief executive Frans-Willem de Kloet.

Interviewed for local papers Rzeczpospolita, Dziennika Gazeta Prawna and Puls Biznes, De Kloet said that further consolidation would enable cable to compete more effectively with the national telecom operator. He said that there are currently over 400 cable operators in the Polish market, compared with three in the neighbouring Czech Republic and only one in the UK.

Liberty Global-owned UPC Poland is currently attempting to secure the closure of its acquisition of Multimedia Polska, which would increase its reach from 20% to 30% of the market.

De Kloet said that UPC was also investing in building out its own network, adding 185,000 homes to its existing reach to take the total number of homes passed to 3.2 million.

Liberty Global expects to close the acquisition of Multimedia Polska by the end of this year.