Belgium’s telecoms regulator BIPT wants to lop a big chunk off wholesale cable prices, in a move that would throw open up the country’s quadplay market, particularly for Mobistar.

The cable operators impacted are Telenet, Brutele and Coditel in the Brussels-Capital Region, in markets including the resale of analogue TV and broadband, as well as access to digital TV. Deadline for responses to the proposal is 23 June 2015.

BIPT’s statement follows a recent decision by the country’s Court of Appeal which backed regulation of cable networks.

The regulator proposed the cost of wholesale access to Telenet’s network should fall from €29.90 per month to €19.70 per month, a drop of 34 per cent, according to Die Tijd.

After a transitional period while newcomers gain market share, the price would increase to €21.70 per month, which is still equivalent to a price cut of over 27 per cent.

However, Telenet is unlikely to take the proposed reduction lying down. A spokeswoman said it will attack both methodology and the calculation behind the new rates.

So far, Mobistar is the only company to have formally requested access to Telenet’s network, although it’s possible the new rates might attract incumbent Proximus as well as foreign players.