Exclusive: Balticom denies Tet’s accusations

Latvian cable operator Balticom has denied Tet’s accusations of unauthorised use and illegal damage to the infrastructure of its optical internet network, in a statement to Digital TV Europe. 

A spokesperson from the company told Digital TV Europe, the accusations from Tet was an attempt to discredit the company’s reputation and had also detected similar damages to Balticom’s network by Tet’s representatives.

Tet recently filed a statement to Latvia’s state police claiming Balticom had caused deliberate damage to Tet’s optical Internet network, that affected more than 300 households in the city Ventspils. The local service provider reported that the stairwells of apartment buildings where the last section of the optical Internet cable owned by Tet were illegally cut and connected to Balticom network.

According to Baliticom, there have been talks between the company’s representatives in order to settle the matter peacefully.

Balticom procurator, Anastasija Muižniece said, “We have been active in the telecommunications market for 24 years, and this is the first time we have experienced such an aggressive customer retention strategy. We as a company understand that it is difficult for Tet to lose many of their subscribers in Ventspils. But purely from a humane point of view, we are sorry for those of our clients that had to deal with the police to resolve this issue.

“We are happy to see Balticom clients in Ventspils maintain a rational position and remain with us despite Tet’s chaotic attempts to get them back. The general impression is that the city has been longing for healthy competition and changes for a long time. We are currently working on our response statement to the police, because Tet performs activities that interfere with our network and disconnect our clients from services. We believe that no matter the disputes that surface between companies, they should not affect clients and their chosen services.”