Tele Columbus acquires fibre operator

Tele Columbus’s Hanover HQ

German cable operator Tele Columbus has acquired Mönchengladbach fibre access provider Big Medienversorgung, adding about 12,700 connected households in North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Berlin to its subscriber base.

Tele Columbus said it would offer its own internet and telephony packages over Big Medienversorgung’s network. The latter’s network is expected to grow to 16,400 connected households by the end of the year.

The acquisition followed Tele Columbus’ announcement that it had become a stock corporation and that Tele Columbus Holdikng GmbH would be known as Tele Columbus AG going forwards.

The change will lead to the creation of a new supervisory board. CEO Ronny Verhelst said the change would give the company more flexibility to achieve growth.

Verhelst and chief financial officer Frank Posnanski will form the executive board, with chief commercial officer Stefan Beberweil and chief technology officer Reinhard Sauer making up the senior management team.

KBC Bank and Insurance supervisory board member and former Telenet chairman Frank Donck will head the supervisory board, which will also include Pamplona Capital Management partner Carsten Boekhorst and former Belgian prime minister and OECD vice-president Yves Leterme.