CABLE TV and telecoms company Telewest Communications is to buy rival firm Eurobell from Deutsche Telekom for £250m.
Telewest, based at the Team Valley in Gateshead, currently supplies 1.6 million UK households, but it will extend its reach across southern England with the addition of Eurobell's 171,000 residential and 10,500 business customers.
Eurobell's network stretches across Southern England from its franchises in Crawley, Kent, Devon and the affluent South-East.
Chief executive Adam Singer said: "We believe we're in a great business and therefore more is good."
He added: "Consequently, the purchase of Eurobell is a terrific opportunity to expand our network by acquiring the last significant independent cable operator in Britain."
Mr Singer added that, as Eurobell's franchise areas fitted in with Telewest's existing network in South England, the deal gave them access to even more customers in some of the most affluent parts of the country.
"More exciting still is the addition of Gatwick Airport to our existing coverage of Heathrow," he added.
Eurobell generated revenues of £35.5m in the year to December 1999.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article