Weekend reports claim that UK cable operators NTL and Telewest could finalise their long sought after merger agreement sometime this week, possibly today.

The deal, which will create a dominant UK cable television company with a market capitalisation of over £5.6 billion, will also include Telewest's Flextech digital TV business.

Telewest had been running an auction process to sell the business, but has decided to put that on hold and sell the unit to NTL as part of the deal. Telewest and NTL began talks in June over a potential deal that would create a company able to compete more effectively with Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB.

Much as we've reported before, customers of Telewest's ISP wing (blueyonder) remain particularly cautious, fearful that the lower rated broadband service from NTL may impact Telewest's much stronger and more attractive package choices.