Euskaltel-Telecable talks reportedly stall on control issue

Talks between Spanish regional cable operators Euskaltel and Telecable have stalled for the time being over who will be in charge of the combined enterprise, according a report by Spanish web news service OK Diario.

According to OK Diario, citing unnamed sources close to the negotiations between the pair, Telecable’s owner, UK-based Zegona Communications, wants to exercise a higher degree of influence over the merged entity than Euskaltel, the prospective buyer, is prepared to grant.

The logic behind Euskaltel’s move to take control of Telecable is widely recognised to be unarguable. The Basque Country-based operator, with a network to the East of Telecable’s home territory of Asturias, also owns R, the regional operator in Galicia, to the West of Asturias. As well as creating geographical contiguity, the acquisition would also create greater scale and enable the combined entity to expand outside its regional base, for example in the region of Cantabria between the Basque Country and Asturias, where both groups have reportedly been in contact with local layer Ibiocom.

Zegona’s earlier attempt to break out of the Asturias region by acquiring national mobile player Yoigo from Telia was thwarted when it lost out to rival mobile telco MásMóvil.