DT Changes its Tune Over French 3G

date: 15th January 2001, source: bwcs.com

French communications and construction group Bouygues, is rumoured to be in talks with Deutsche Telekom. The alleged tryst is said to involve the German telco taking a stake in the French company, majority owner of Bouygues Telecom.

According to the Financial Times in London, sources at Bouygues have indicated that it is also talking to NTT DoCoMo and KPN. Certainly it should come as no surprise that the French company is at least flirting with other telcos – a proposed deal with Telecom Italia, which holds an indirect stake in Bouygues Telecom, collapsed in December 2000. Since then Bouygues has been scouting for more telecoms partners. However, the news that Deutsche Telekom may be interested will cause a few eyebrows to be raised in France and Germany.

The former state-owned German operator went on the record in November 2000 saying that it had no intention of bidding for a 3G mobile licence in France. Now, with the 31 January deadline for candidates to submit bids for the French 3G licences fast approaching, DT seems to have changed its tune.

Despite its purported lack of interest in a French 3G licence DT is also rumoured to have been talking to Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux over taking a minority stake in the 3G partnership Suez has formed with Spain's Telefónica. It is understood Telekom would only have joined the consortium if Suez agreed to dump Telefónica.

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