* Deal valued at 618 mln euros, agreed in May 2012
* German cartel office blocked deal last month
* Kabel Deutschland shares down 1 pct
FRANKFURT, March 22 (Reuters) - Kabel Deutschland has filed an appeal against a decision by Germany's competitionregulator to block a planned purchase of smaller rival TeleColumbus.
Spokesmen for the German cartel office and Kabel Deutschlandon Friday said an appeal had been filed against the blocking ofthe deal, which was agreed in May last year, for about 618million euros ($798.8 million) including debt.
They declined to give further details.
Tele Columbus is one of the last big targets left in thecountry's cable market, which was once one of Europe's mostfragmented, with a proliferation of smaller regional playersoffering television and broadband services.
But private equity firms and companies like Unitymedia,owned by Liberty Global, and Kabel Deutschland haverestructured the market by buying up smaller companies to createmore efficient larger players.
The German cartel office blocked the deal last month as itfound Kabel Deutschland's remedies to get approval inadequate.
Kabel Deutschland's success in the German broadband markethas also caught the attention of Vodafone, the biggestmobile operator in Germany.
The UK-based company has hired Goldman Sachs toadvise on a possible offer for the company, a person with directknowledge of the matter told Reuters last month.
Kabel Deutschland shares were down 1 percent by 1400 GMT,underperformimg a 0.1 percent weaker German mid-cap index