Brussels, 19/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has withdrawn its pending case at the Court of Justice against Hungary after the latter abolished a provision of its Media Act that prevented cable operators from providing cable TV services to more than one third of the Hungarian population. The provision had limited competition on the markets for cable TV and broadband internet services in Hungary: such a lack of competition typically leads to higher prices, less innovation and slower take-up of these services. The Commission had formally requested the abolition of the restriction in April 2006 by means of a reasoned opinion. “In Hungary, cable TV operators are major providers of broadband access to the Internet. Now cable TV operators will be able to provide their services without restriction throughout Hungary and Hungarian citizens will have better choice in broadband services,” said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. The provision of law to which the Commission had objected prevented further consolidation of the cable TV sector in Hungary. Consolidation fosters investment and the provision of better broadband services, including 'triple play' services (voice telephony, broadband internet access and cable TV distribution) by cable TV operators in competition with the incumbent operator throughout the country, the Commission says. Hungary now complies with the directive on competition in the markets for electronic communications networks and services (2002/77/EC) which aims to ensure that competitive market conditions prevail across the European Union to foster growth and investment. (il)