Cable firms in deal to hook up with BT network

CABLE television companies covering 60 franchises in Britain have reached a breakthrough agreement with BT, writes Mary Fagan.

The deal, which should boost the growth of cable telephony, allows cable companies to connect calls on their local telephone systems into BT's national network while keeping about half of the call revenues. BT has been anxious to forge deals with the companies, rather than let them join forces with Mercury.

Until now, almost all cable television companies have interconnected their calls through Mercury, which earlier this week also upgraded its interconnection agreement with cable operators.

Cable companies with their own switches are expected to sign up both with BT and with Mercury and route calls in the way that suits them best.

More than 180,000 people are now using cable telephony, and the cable industry expects the new deals to take subscriptions beyond 300,000 by the end of the year.