Maltacom is very near to concluding a deal to acquire Multiplus, sources told this paper yesterday.

Multiplus was created some years ago in a bid to create a second cable television network. One of its first coups was to get the exclusivity for broadcasting the much-followed Italian league football games while Melita Cable retained its English football coverage.

With Melita Cable broadening into fixed-line telephony with the launch of Hello some weeks ago, and now with Maltacom broadening into cable television, the stage is set for an eyeball-to-eyeball competition for audience share.