The management boards of the two leading Bulgarian operators in the areas of cable TV and internet services - Eurocom Cable and CableTEL, have announced plans for a merger of the companies, with the aim of creating additional perspectives for development in the areas of cable and digital TV, internet services, communications and corporate solutions.

The new telecommunication company will be part of the FN Cable holding, controlled by investment fund WarburgPincus, said Eurocom.

“We are very excited by the prospect of merging the most up-to-date optic infrastructure in the country, that of CableTEL, with the large network and long-term experience of Eurocom. This will lay the basis of a stable, effective and consumer-oriented company,” said CableTEL CEO Dimitar Radev.

Petyo Staykov, member of Eurocom Board of Directors, added that the “consolidation of the Bulgarian cable and telecommunications market is a logical step in the long process of development and modernization of the sector and of the Bulgarian economy as a whole.”

The two companies are now waiting for the approval of the Commission for Protection of Competition, which has been notified of the merger plans on May 23.