Fallout from overturning of Dutch analogue resale ruling continues

The fallout from the overturning of Dutch media regulator Opta’s mandating that cable operators Ziggo and UPC open up their analogue services to competition continues, with Tele2, which had launched a competitive analogue resale offer organising a petition in support of the open network policy, according to local reports.

The higher court dealing with business appeals cases, the CBb, last week ruled that the market analysis on which Opta had based its mandating of the opening up of the two operators analogue networks was flawed. Opta said in a statement that no appeal was possible against the CBb’s decision, but that it would investigate whether the ruling left room for further action on the matter.

Opta, UPC, Ziggo and Tele2 have assured customers that have already switched to the Tele2 offer that they will still receive cable services. Tele2 has signed up several thousand customers since launching its analogue offer, according to reports.

Startup Your.tv, which had planned to take advantage of the new rules to launch an analogue resale service, now plans to focus on over-the-top delivery of existing digital TV channels via broadband, according to reports.