NTL denies scrapping £450m expansion plan

NTL has denied reports that it is to axe the additional telephony and digital TV services it had planned to offer existing customers…

NTL has denied reports that it is to axe the additional telephony and digital TV services it had planned to offer existing customers.

The telecommunications company, which owns Cablelink, was reported in the Irish Independentthis morning to be considering abandoning plans for the expansion of its services because of the £450 million cost of the plan.

In a short statement this afternoon, Mr Ian Jeffers, Managing Director of NTL, rejected the report and said it was "absolutely without foundation."

"I would like to state emphatically that this morning's media report that NTL had decided to abandon its plans because of an underestimation of capital expenditure cost is absolutely without foundation," Mr Jeffers said.

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"We are however, conducting a review of the business which will result in a delay in roll-out of our news services.

"NTL remains committed to becoming Ireland's leading provider of television, telephone and Internet services."

NTL currently has 375,000 subscribers accessing networks in the Dublin, Galway and Waterford regions. 350,000 subscribers access the company's service through cable systems while 25,000 access through the MMDS aerial system.

The company plans to launch a range of new services including Digital TV, Internet services, WAP services and high-speed, broadband Internet access.

The company also have plans to invest £300 million in a digital broadband network throughout their market.