Microsoft Corp may be poised to make a dramatic entry into the cable TV market in the UK by buying up the company that provides a service to many of the country’s Members of Parliament and top opinion formers. Westminster Cable, which serves one of the most affluent and influential areas of London, is up for sale because its owner, British Telecommunications Plc, has been ordered by European regulators to sell its modest cable interests. They made this a condition of its membership of the British Interactive Broadcasting consortium that offers interactive TV and home shopping services. Although BT says that the sale is still at an early stage, it refused to confirm of deny that Microsoft was a prospective bidder. The logic behind a Microsoft acquisition is that the company would acquire a showpiece franchise passing 135,000 homes to display its technology in front of London’s most prestigious audience. BT is believed to favor a Microsoft acquisition because it would keep Westminster out of the hands of other cable companies who offer competing telecoms services. The disadvantage for any purchaser is that Westminster Cable dates back to the early 1980s and offers an outdated analog service that would need heavy investment. The other BT-owned cable operation up for sale at Milton Keynes does have a major attraction in that it is used by over 80% of the 136,000 homes it passes. This is because it was laid in a new town and planners took the opportunity to ban what they consider unsightly traditional aerials. Thus, cable offers the only chance of good TV reception.
