By Sam Schechner
PARIS--Vivendi SA's (VIV.FR) French mobile operator SFR and
competitor Bouygues Telecom (EN.FR) entered exclusive talks Monday
to share part of their mobile-phone networks in France, the latest
cost-saving move by French operators as they reel from a brutal
price war.
SFR and Bouygues--France's No. 2 and No. 3 mobile operators by
number of subscribers, respectively--said late Monday that they
hope to come to a strategic agreement by the end of the year to
share parts of their mobile-phone networks, using a model similar
to those already in operation in other countries.
The two companies said their proposed network-sharing agreement
would allow them to boost their geographic coverage and face "the
challenge of investing in super high bandwidth networks." But they
added that they would retain an "independent capacity for
innovation, and total commercial independence."
Network-sharing deals, which are common in countries like the
U.K., let operators share towers, and in some arrangements even
antennas, transmitter equipment and maintenance personnel. That can
allow significant savings as operators roll out expensive network
equipment.
Since last fall, all four of France's main phone operators,
including incumbent Orange SA, and low-cost upstart Iliad SA, have
been privately discussing such agreements as a way to cope with a
price war started when Iliad launched its Free Mobile operator in
January 2012. In March, France's competition authority said it was
ready to bless such deals in a preliminary opinion.
Write to Sam Schechner at sam.schechner@wsj.com; follow on
Twitter: @samschech
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