Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 December 2005
118 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the implications for the Irish cable TV and Internet sector on the recent approval by the Competition Authority of the acquisition of NTL by Liberty Global; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34345/05]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Competition Authority carried out a full competition assessment of this case and on 4 November 2005 determined that the acquisition would not substantially lessen competition provided the parties comply with the conditions set out in its determination.
As regards cable TV, the authority found no significant overlap between the merging parties' businesses as both Chorus and NTL serve different geographic regions. While certain competition concerns arose because of cross-ownership issues involving Chorus and BskyB, the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of the authority through the imposition of 19 conditions in its determination.
The acquisition should have a positive impact on the provision of broadband Internet access for consumers. This is welcome from a competition perspective where one provider continues to dominate the market for broadband and telephony services in the State and also where Ireland is ranked 19 out of the EU 25 in terms of broadband penetration.
