Germany's Federal Cartel Office has approved the acquisition of cable network operator Kabel Baden-Wuerttemberg (Kabel BW) by Liberty Global. The approval is subject to conditions and obligations, with Liberty agreeing to grant special termination rights for large contracts for retail TV services and to end its encryption of digital free TV programmes. The company has also agreed to forgo certain exclusivity clauses and ownership claims or rights to dismantle household cable connections. Housing associations in the network areas of Unitymedia and Kabel BW will be granted a special contract termination right. This will offer them an earlier opportunity to look for a less expensive network operator for their housing units. The special termination right applies to contracts for retail TV services with more than 800 housing units and remaining contract terms of more than three years. The decision not to encrypt digital free TV programmes will make it easier for rivals to compete for retail TV service contracts. As a result of the approval, Liberty has completed the takeover of Kabel BW. The company will combine Kabel BW, the country's third-largest cable operator with 2.4 million customers, with Unitymedia, the second-largest German operator acquired last year by Liberty. Together the two networks pass over 12 million homes in Germany.
