Orange, France’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, has ruled out for now any deals with its domestic competitors, deflating consolidation hopes in one or Europe’s most competitive markets, reports The Financial Times.
In a brief statement on Wednesday morning, the former state-owned company said that it had “examined” the possibility of tie-ups with other operators but had concluded that “it cannot pursue this avenue at the present time as the conditions that the group has set have not been met”.
The announcement casts serious doubts over any immediate prospect of reducing the number of competitors in the French market in an attempt to end a bitter two-year price war.
Shares in Orange were down 3.5 per cent on the day. Meanwhile, shares in Iliad, owner of France’s low-cost Free mobile operator, fell 3.5 per cent and shares in Bouygues, the country’s third-largest operator, fell 2 per cent.
Orange’s statement comes barely 24 hours after Martin Bouygues, who heads the Paris-based Bouygues construction and telecoms conglomerate, told parliament that “nothing concrete” had so far resulted from talks surrounding the possible sale of Bouygues Telecom.
The appearance in January 2012 of Free as a fourth operator has led to a ferocious price war, which has forced operators to reduce plans to the public while slashing operating expenses.
Read more of this report from The Financial Times.