France

France telecom announces new management team

On 03.11.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A new management committee for French operations has been appointed by France Telecom which will be effective from April 6. Group CEO Stephane Richard and executive vice president and deputy for French operations Delphine Ernotte announced the new organization.

The new organization has been expected to meet the group’s revenue, market share and profit goals in France, implement the new social contract currently under development and strengthen the reliability and quality of its services, products and customer relations.

Technical director Philippe Chicaud, financial control director Bernard Ansart, major projects director Benoit Eymard, and territorial programmes and human resources director Jacque Moulin have kept their current functions.

The new appointees and their functions include- Jerome Barre, the new director of retail sales, Alice Holzman becomes deputy director of retail services, Laurent Kocher will be the director of enterprise sales, Odile Roujol has become the new director of communications; Laurent Benatar becomes information systems director and David Richard takes up the post of director of quality and performance.

Team of eleven territorial directors have also been named by France Telecom out of which nine is for metropolitan France and two for the French departments in the Caribbean and Reunion/Mayotte areas.

Apple IPad to hit the stores in April

On 03.06.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The technology oriented people waiting anxiously for the much anticipated Apple iPad to adore their gadgets collection will have to wait a little more as the launch of the device has been delayed and will now hit the stores on April 3.

Earlier, Apple scheduled the launch of the device worldwide by end March. No reasons have been cited by the company behind the delay. According to analysts, Apple might have to delay or limit the size of the launch because of an unspecified production problem but denied any affect of the delay on the sales of the iPad during Apple’s fiscal third quarter, which ends in June.

Depending on the data storage capacity, the range of the first iPad will vary between $499, $599 or $699 and will be connected to Wi-Fi networks only. The cost of those versions which can also be connected to 3G cellular networks will range between $629, $729 or $829.

Orders can be placed by the US customers from March 12 and all models will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the U.K. by late April.

12 new applications will be included in the iPad, especially designed for the touch-screen device. According to Apple, it will also run “almost all” of the more than 140,000 apps already available for the iPhone and iPod Touch and users will be able to access the applications they bought for those devices through the iPad.

Tagged with: 3G • Apple • ASIA • Canada • Europe • France • Germany • iPad • iPhone • iPOD • Italy • Japan • Launch • North Amercia • Spain • Switzerland

Vivendi reports 7% rise in revenues (France)

On 03.04.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: 6.9 percent increase in the revenue, up from EUR 25.39 billion a year earlier to 27.13 billion in 2009, has been reported by French entertainment and communications group Vivendi. Acquisitions made in 2008 were the major factor behind the growth.

According to the company, Activision Blizzard and SFR have met their targets due the success of the games Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, World of Warcraft, the successful integration of Neuf Cegetel into the new SFR, and important market share gains in broadband Internet.

The EBITA of the company has been boosted by 8.8 percent to EUR 5.39 billion, reflecting the strong performance of Activision Blizzard. Vivendi’s adjusted net income fell to EUR 2.59 billion, or EUR 2.15 per share, in 2009, compared to EUR 2.74 billion or EUR 2.34 per share, a year earlier.

Tagged with: Acquisition • EBITA • Europe • France • Neuf Cegetel • SFR • Vivendi

Vivendi reports better-than- expected revenue (France)

On 03.03.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Due to a strong performance from both gaming and telecoms divisions, a better-than- expected revenue and operating profit has been posted by French media and telecoms conglomerate, Vivendi.

Vivendi’s revenues were up 6.9% year-on-year to EUR27.13 billion (USD36.99 billion) for 2009 while the EBITDA was up 8.8% year-on-year at EUR5.39 billion. However, a one-off provision related to possible damages in a US-led class action lawsuit affected the net income which swung to a loss of EUR839 million in 4Q09.

According to group’s chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy, this year the firm would hopefully post ‘slight growth’ on an adjusted operating profit basis compared with ‘strong growth’ last year. The gaming division of the company reported sales rise of 50% y-o-y at EUR3 billion.

Tagged with: EBITDA • Europe • France • Operating Profit • Vivendi

France Telecom’s new chief expected to deal with suicide issue

On 02.25.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Stephane Richard’s nomination as CEO of France’s largest phone company, France telecom, will be voted on by its board today. Investors want Richard to come up with a plan for the brutally competitive phone market and closing the one year chapter mired by suicides besides developing a strategy for emerging markets.

Richard was hired six months ago, as an eventual successor to Didier Lombard retiring in 2011, following the suicides and criticism from unions and opposition parties on how management dealt with the issue.

According to the company, Richard, currently deputy CEO will deploy the new industrial project as well as the new social contract.

Tagged with: Europe • France • France Telecom

3G network-sharing agreement signed by French mobile operators

On 02.25.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: An agreement has been signed between three established mobile phone operators of France to share third-generation mobile network installations in order to extend 3G network coverage across the country.

Principles on how to share 3G mobile network deployments has been laid down in the framework agreement signed by France Telecom’s Orange, Vivendi SA’s SFR and Bouygues’ Bouygues Telecom on February 11.

According to French telecoms regulator Arcep, the agreement will help speed up the extension of the 3G network in France and will enable full nationwide coverage by the end of 2013. Terms for the inclusion of Iliad’s Free Mobile in the agreement will also be discussed by the three operators before May 31, 2010.

Tagged with: 3G • Arcep • Bouygues Telecom • Europe • Framework Agreement • France • France Telecom • Free Mobile • Iliad • operator • Orange • SFR • Vivendi • Vivendi SA

Orange & T-Mobile confident of EC approval for merger (UK)

On 02.22.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Rapid regulatory approval from European Commission is expected by Orange and T-Mobile for a merger of the UK mobile phone businesses, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom.

France Telecom’s Orange UK and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile UK are planning to combine to form Britain’s largest mobile operator, with 29.5m customers.

The number of UK mobile network operators in UK will be reduced from five to four after this transaction as Telefónica’s O 2 UK subsidiary will be overtaken by the combined Orange/T-Mobile entity.

The matter of concern for the regulators is the fact that whether the three telecom operators, which has never reported a pre-tax profit, could compete effectively after consolidation in the mobile market.

Tagged with: Deutsche Telekom • Europe • European Commission • France • France Telecom • merger • operator • Orange • T-Mobile • UK

T-Mobile, Orange to offer a part of spectrum for sale in UK

On 02.18.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: A part of the combined radio spectrum has been offered to be sold by Deutsche Telekom AG and France Télécom SA besides providing some network-sharing guarantees to allay competition concerns over their U.K. mobile joint venture.

Instead of facing a lengthy antitrust probe by U.K. regulators, the companies consider European Commission’s antitrust clearance a preferred option.

The key players in the U.K. mobile sector have been asked by the commission to see whether the proposals reduce rivals’ concerns over their impact on competition.

Tagged with: Deutsche Telekom • Deutsche Telekom AG • Europe • European Commission • France • Orange • T-Mobile • UK

French telco SFR contracts NSN for network expansion

On 02.17.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has been awarded a three-year contract by French cellco SFR to expand its mobile broadband coverage, enhance service quality and pilot LTE. The value of the deal has not been disclosed.

SFR’s radio network will be upgraded and all-IP packet core technology capable of supporting 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) services will be provided, operated and maintained by NSN under this deal. NetAct network management system and ‘charge@once’ charging and billing solution will also be provided by NSN.

According to Nicolas Huguet, head of SFR customer team at NSN, in order to maintain its leadership on new innovative services, SFR is constantly offering superior network quality. And therefore, it is looking at next-generation networks to deliver leading-edge services and superior customer experience.

Tagged with: EDGE • Europe • France • LTE • network management system • Next-Gen • Nokia • Nokia Siemens Network • SFR • Siemens

Orange to charge for handset customer care services

On 02.16.10, In Mobile, By Editor

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Orange customers seeking support for handset specific issues will now be charged. Remote assistance service will also be included in the dedicated hotline assistance allowing Orange agents to remotely connect to a customer’s device and offer real-time, technical set-up and support.

Specialist customer service representatives will give expert assistance offering telephone guidance and answer queries, such as how to set up web and email access, how to synchronize and back-up a device and how to connect accessories.

Smart phone customers will receive the service as an Orange Care package. Launching in Q2 2010, the service will be available in France, Switzerland, UK, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Romania, Moldova and Belgium.

Tagged with: Belgium • Europe • France • Launch • Oman • Orange • Poland • Romania • Slovakia • Spain • Switzerland • UK