By William Horobin and Inti Landauro
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France--The consolidation push in French
telecoms isn't over, although the largest operator, Orange (ORAN,
ORA.FR), won't be leading the drive, the company's chief executive
said Saturday.
"Nobody can say it's over because the problem remains: we are
still four [operators] and I don't think it is sustainable to
remain four," Stephane Richard said on the sidelines of Les
Rencontres Economiques, an annual conference of chief executives
and policy makers. "The game is not over yet."
The entry of Iliad SA (ILIAY, ILD.FR) into the French mobile
market in January 2012--joining Orange, SFR and Bouygues SA's
(EN.FR) Bouygues Telecom--sparked a price war that has crimped
margins and held back investment, the operators say.
Orange had been in discussions about merging with or buying
Bouygues Telecom, but it said earlier this week that it can't
pursue a deal.
Speaking in Aix-en-Provence, Mr. Richard said if Orange had led
the consolidation in France, it would have had to sell off large
swaths of assets to satisfy the European Commission's competition
rules.
It will be up to two other French operators to lead the
consolidation now, he said.
"Somebody else will have to jump into the ring. There are people
who could do it," he said.
Still, Orange would be prepared to play a role if two merging
competitors had to sell assets under antitrust rules.
"If we were called on to take assets and mobile frequencies, we
would of course look at it," Mr. Richard said.
Write to Inti Landauro at inti.landauro@wsj.com and William
Horobin at william.horobin@wsj.com
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