French cable TV operator Mediareseaux SA has unveiled a multiservice offering for its subscribers in three departments to the north-east of Paris, offering telephone and internet access services as well as pay TV. Mediareseaux is a subsidiary of the Dutch group United Pan-European Communications NV (UPC), which claims to be the largest cable operator in t, with 5 million homes passed and 3.5 million customers in 11 countries. The French operation is the first local loop operator in the country to hold a double license as both as network operator and a provider of local telephony services. The offering also represents an important step for the UPC group as a whole. Until now the only venture beyond cable TV by any of its operations was in the Netherlands, where its joint venture with US West, A2000, added first cable telephony (in July 1997) then internet access (in October 1997) as part of its strategy to increase revenue per subscriber.
