The plans of Eurocom Cable and CableTEL, Bulgaria's two biggest cable operators, to merge their businesses has prompted a probe from the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC). The anti-trust watchdog has said that the data it had collected so far suggested that the resulting company would dominate what CPC called the "paid television segment", thus harming free competition.

CPC said that it would need at least two more months to conduct additional research, because the data it had was not enough to rule on the proposed deal. The commission said that after the merger, the resulting company would have a market share in excess of 35 per cent, giving it a dominant position on the market.

The regulator noted that companies were not banned from having a dominant position on their respective markets, but said that the abuse of such a dominant position is against the law.

All requested paperwork has been submitted to the CPC, Eurocom board director Petyo Staikov said, adding that the cumulative market share of the companies involved in the deal would not exceed a quarter of paid TV viewers subscribed for content delivered by cable, satellite, mobile and IPTV operators.

Some 60 to 70 per cent of Bulgaria's three million households watch TV on cable, satellite or mobile platforms.

FN Cable Cooperatif is the Dutch company poised to acquire CableTEL. It is part of FN Cable Holdings, a Dutch holding company controlled by US investment fund Warburg Pincus Private Equity. The holding also owns Bulgarian cable operator Eurocom Cable MB. According to the Daksi electronic register, CableTEL is wholly-owned by UK investment fund Ramford Alliance Limited.