www.WirelessFederation.com/news: French operator Bouygues Telecom will put a freeze on hiring as a part of cost cutting measures in order to cope up with competition in the French 3G mobile sector.

According to Bouyges Telecom CEO Olivier Roussat, the tender offer for France’s fourth 3G mobile license is also the reason behind the companywide hiring freeze. Earlier, the company used to recruit young graduates but this has also stopped. Currently, Bouygues Telecom has 8650 employees.

The pricing structure that was placed on the new license has been opposed by carrier judging it to be anti-competitive and it filed two appeals with the State Council to challenge the award procedure.

The carrier also wants to shake-up the fixed-line market, since it can access 3.3 million potential fiber-optic clients through its deal with French cable operator Numericable.