Posts Tagged France
Vivendi revenues up 24%, driven by 31.5% rise in sales at SFR (France)
French communications and entertainment group Vivendi reported a 23.7% year-on-year rise in consolidated revenues (22.1% at constant currency) to EUR6.5 billion (USD8.83 billion), as a result of strong performance from the likes of telecoms arm SFR and expected synergies delivered following recent acquisitions. Group EBITDA reached EUR1.4 billion, an increase of 15.8% (13.8% at constant currency) compared to the first quarter of 2008. Vivendi said adjusted net income was EUR649 million, down EUR48 million compared to the first quarter of 2008, mainly due to the increasing interest and share of earnings attributable to minority interests. Nonetheless, the company confirmed its 2009 outlook for strong growth of EBITA.
SFR’s revenues increased to EUR3.028 billion in the three months ended 31 March 2009, up by 31.5% compared to the same period in 2008, due to the consolidation of neuf Cegetel since 15 April 2008. On a comparable basis, SFR’s revenues decreased by 0.8% y-o-y, although excluding the impact of the decrease in switched voice revenues and equipment sales, SFR revenues increased by 1.4%, it said. Mobile turnover generated EUR2.181 billion in sales which Vivendi said was ‘stable’ due to a EUR22 million decrease in equipment sales to EUR77 million. Mobile service revenues, however, rose 1.2% year-on-year to EUR2.104 billion, driven by growth of the customer base and a sharp (36%) rise in data revenues following the launch of unlimited SMS and MMS offers, and strong development of mobile internet services in the mass market and enterprise segments. SFR added 118,000 net new mobile customers in January-March, equivalent to 51% of net additions in the period. Furthermore, SFR reported an improvement in its customer mix (+3.5 percentage points year-on-year to 69.6%), adding 178,000 new post-paid customers in the period to achieve 13.76 million contract customers at the end of March 2009. SFR launched the iPhone on 8 April, and says it has already sold 120,000 handsets.
SFR (including neuf Cegetel) reported broadband internet and fixed revenues of EUR934 million in 1Q09, down 2.7% compared to the same period in 2008 on a comparable basis. Broadband internet and fixed revenues increased by 2.3%, excluding the impact of the decrease in switched voice revenues. Aided by the launch of the ‘neufbox by SFR’, SFR added 163,000 net new broadband internet active customers in the period (or >30% of all quarterly net additions). At the end of March 2009 SFR’s broadband subscriber base totalled 4.042 million, up 9.3% compared to the same period in 2008. In addition, SFR had 164,000 Enterprise data links connected to the SFR network, 10.1% higher than a year earlier. SFR’s broadband internet and fixed EBITDA, including neuf Cegetel’s operations since 15 April 2008, decreased by EUR19 million on a comparable basis to EUR133 million.
Add comment May 15, 2009
Bouygues Q1 revenues climb 6% (France)
French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom posted a 6% increase in sales for the three months to 31 March 2009 on the back of solid subscriber growth. Sales from network services grew 5% year-on-year to EUR1.175 billion (USD1.603 billion), including a EUR9 million contribution from its fixed line business, it said. Bouygues added a net 144,000 new mobile customers in the first quarter of 2009, compared with 51,000 in the first quarter of 2008. As at 31 March 2009, Bouygues Telecom’s cellular user base totalled 9.739 million, of which 7.348 million were on post-paid contracts — 75.5% of the total customer base — a year-on-year increase of 1.7 percentage points.
Add comment May 14, 2009
France’s fourth mobile licence to cost EUR 206 million
French state secretary for industry Luc Chatel told the National Assembly that the first 5 MHz lot to be allocated to the fourth mobile network operator would cost EUR 206 million. This is one third of the EUR 619 million paid by the country’s existing mobile operators for their 15 MHz of spectrum. Free, the triple-play operator likely to become the country’s fourth mobile network operator, was prepared to pay EUR 210 million, CEO Xavier Niel told Le Figaro. Free may also bid for the remaining two lots of 5 MHz of spectrum alongside its competitors in a second tender. The first 5 MHz are due to be tendered at the end of February or early March, according to regulatory chairman Jean-Claude Mallet. Separately, France’s recently appointed secretary for the development of the digital economy, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, suggested to the National Assembly setting up a conference to respond to consumers’ increasing concerns about the possible dangers of exposure to radio waves. The round table would bring together legislators, operators and scientists, she said.
Add comment February 10, 2009
Appeal court upholds ban on Apple’s iPhone deal with Orange (France)
The French courts have ruled that Orange France must relinquish its exclusive rights to sell the Apple iPhone in France, upholding an earlier ruling by the country’s anti-competition authorities. On 17 December 2008 the competition watchdog effectively tore up the exclusivity contract when it ordered Orange France and Apple to suspend the deal they brokered which allowed the mobile operator to control the sale of the much-hyped Apple device in the country. The Competition Council’s ruling followed a complaint filed by Bouygues Telecom which argued the exclusivity deal breached local competition laws. A spokesman for Orange has told AFP it would seek to overturn the ruling before France’s high court of appeal, the Cour de Cassation.
Add comment February 5, 2009
Carrefour targets m-payments trials by year-end
The retail chain Carrefour has announced plans to work with a number of French mobile operators to begin trials of Near Field Communications (NFC) m-payments trials in the country by December 2009. Carrefour says the trial will allow customers of Orange, SFR and Bouygues to make secure mobile contactless payments via a version of its MasterCard loyalty card, known as Pass. The mobile payments can be redeemed as mobile coupons and will effectively replace their existing store cards.
Add comment February 4, 2009
Mobile Social Networking Driving Growth of the Mobile Internet in Europe
comScore reports that social networking is drawing new users into the mobile Web. In November, 34 percent of mobile phone owners in Western Europe who visited social networking sites accessed social media exclusive of all other mobile Web content.With 12.1 million users in Western Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.), mobile social networking is a rapidly-expanding category that grew 152 percent from November 2007 to November 2008. The U.K. boasts the highest penetration of mobile social networking, at 9 percent, nearly triple that of Germany, where the activity is the least popular.
Add comment January 30, 2009
MVNO collective Libre Choix warns government to choose wisely on fourth 3G licence (France)
The French MVNO collective Libre Choix, which brings together a number of companies including Poweo, Altergaz, ipnotica Telecom, Gaz de Paris, Adrexo and Tele2 Mobile, has suggested the government should consult with MVNOs before it considers awarding the country’s fourth and final 3G licence. The group is keen to see the licence go to a new market entrant, saying such a move ‘would be the opportunity of a real market opening today locked by the oligopoly of the three incumbents’. Libre Choix believes that if a fourth operator is given free reign to enter the sector, ‘real competition’ will follow in the short term via MVNOs. Although Libre Choix welcomes the government’s willingness to accelerate the implementation of measures [i.e. awarding the fourth licence] to help revive the French economy, it stresses that splitting the frequency blocks on offer among the existing incumbents would not materially help achieve this goal.
Add comment January 27, 2009
France to split fourth 3G licence into 5MHz lots
The French authorities have opted against awarding the country’s fourth and final 3G mobile licence to a sole bidder, preferring instead to split the blocks of frequency on offer into three lots of 5MHz, with one reserved for a new market entrant. Prime Minister Francois Fillon announced that the government would ring-fence one block of available frequencies when it launches the tender for the licences next month; the radio spectrum is expected to be allocated before the end of the year.
In September 2008 the telecoms regulator Arcep announced plans to re-launch its campaign to issue a fourth and final 3G mobile licence via a new competitive tender process. In 2007 the watchdog tried and failed to auction off the concession when domestic broadband operator Iliad’s sole bid, through its mobile unit Free Mobile, was rejected for failing to meet the financial conditions of the award. In a statement underlining decision no. 2007-0862, adopted in October 2007, the watchdog said ‘the candidature of Free Mobile cannot be retained under the financial conditions currently defined in the law’. As a condition of its bid, Iliad said it believed the success of the fourth mobile operator was dependent on the winner being allowed to make a deferred annual payment of the licence fee instead of an upfront one-off payment of EUR619 million. ‘Iliad believes that a single payment of the rental charge represents a barrier to entering the market,’ the company said.
Although the authorities’ decision to split the frequencies into blocks has greatly increased the likelihood of a new player entering the mobile market, it is unclear how anyone can make great capital from such a small 5MHz allocation. Moreover, with only two blocks open to bidding from the three incumbent operators – Orange France, SFR and Bouygues Telecom – all three firm’s shares dropped following the PM’s announcement. On a more positive note, the news will no doubt be welcome to Iliad which is still keen to enter the domestic mobile market in some form or other.
Add comment January 13, 2009
France to tender fourth 3G licence in first quarter
French prime minister Francois Fillon has asked telecommunication regulator Arcep to open an application procedure for the country’s fourth 3G licence in the first quarter. The regulator will tender three lots of 5 MHz of spectrum in the 2.1 GHz band, one of which will be reserved for a new entrant. The spectrum is due to be allocated by the end of the year. Iliad’s fixed-line subsidiary, Free, is the only credible candidate. The company tried to win France’s fourth 3G licence in 2007, but sought to lower the EUR 619 million licence price. With the spectrum divided into three lots, Free will be able to pay less for less bandwidth. Free CEO Maxime Lombardini told Les Echos that 5 MHz would be enough to build a national network, whereas last autumn 10 MHz was considered a strict minimum. Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom will have to compete for the remaining two lots. Fillon also requested that Arcep launch a public consultation by the end of February on the conditions and methods for an application procedure for the 2.6 GHz band and the digital dividend sub-band, to be used for 4G mobile services. The government wants Arcep to begin the 4G licensing procedure by the end of 2009, so that very high speed mobile services can be launched commercially by 2012. Parliament is set to debate the government’s frequency attribution strategy in February.
Source: http://www.telecompaper.com
Add comment January 13, 2009
KPN introduces no-frills MVNO service in France
KPN (Netherlands) has revealed it is launching a no-frills, low-cost MVNO service in France under the brand name Simyo, leasing network capacity from Bouygues Telecom to piggyback the service. Reuters reports that the launch, which continues the group’s cautious approach to expanding beyond its core markets, will take place on Sunday with plans to expand its activities through the coming year. KPN sees growth potential in a pre-paid market it considers underdeveloped and overly expensive. It will target specific demographic groups (eg ethnic minorities) and lower-income groups with an offer promising call costs of EUR0.19 (USD0.25) per minute – which it says undercuts the current average of EUR0.32 per minute.
Add comment January 9, 2009
Reliance Communications Starts Nationwide GSM Service (India)
Reliance Communications Ltd., India’s second-largest mobile-phone company, started nationwide wireless services based on the global system for mobile communications, or GSM, to gain customers.
Reliance Communications, which operates services based on the code division multiple access, or CDMA, standard, will initially cover 11,000 towns and 340,000 villages with its GSM service, Chairman Anil Ambani told reporters in Mumbai today. The operator has completed most of the capital spending on the second network and has spent 100 billion rupees ($2.1 billion), he said.
Ambani will use the network based on the popular GSM standard, which accounts for about 75 percent of India’s 336 million wireless users, to help Reliance Communications catch up with Bharti Airtel Ltd. and keep ahead of rivals such as Vodafone Group Plc and NTT DoCoMo Inc.
“We see no reason why we shouldn’t have a 100 million customers,” Ambani said. The operator had almost 60 million customers at the end of November, while Bharti had 83 million and Vodafone’s Indian unit had almost 59 million users.
Reliance Communications gained 7.2 percent to 228.15 rupees in Mumbai trading, the most since Dec. 10. The stock was the second-best performer today on the benchmark Sensitive Index, which rose 1.9 percent.
3G Services
India, the world’s second-largest mobile-phone services market after China, added more than 10 million subscribers for the third straight month in November and is set to attract more operators as it prepares to auction licenses for starting high- speed wireless services next year.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman Nripendra Misra said in October, operators in the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy and Australia may bid for permits to offer the so-called third-generation, or 3G, services, further increasing competition.
Reliance may spend between 20 billion rupees and 40 billion rupees on 3G gear, Ambani said.
DoCoMo, Japan’s biggest mobile-phone operator, considers Asia its biggest priority for expansion, President Ryuji Yamada said on Nov. 18, a week after the company agreed to pay $2.7 billion for 26 percent of India’s Tata Teleservices Ltd. The purchase is aimed at giving the Tokyo-based company entry into the world’s fastest-growing major wireless market and is its largest acquisition in about eight years.
Tata Teleservices will spend $2 billion in the next two years to provide GSM-based wireless services, the Press Trust of India reported in August. Tata Teleservices, which currently offers CDMA mobile-phone services plans to start the GSM services by the end of the year in India, Press Trust said at the time, citing Anil Sardana, the company’s managing director.
Add comment December 31, 2008
FNAC sells contract-free iPhone 3G in France
After the recent ruling by the French telecoms regulator, the people in France will now be able to buy an iPhone 3G without the contract which is Apple-sanctioned for Orange.
The French retailer FNAC is now selling a contract-free version of the black 8GB iPhone for $1,123, while black or white 16GB models are fetching $1,263. The cost will be five times more than the $210.01 in-contract cost for the 8GB model sold by Orange.
Add comment December 30, 2008
France Telecom Exclusive Deal To Sell iPhone In France Banned
In a move that France Telecom itself has called a “serious blow,” France’s Competition Council has temporarily suspended the agreement the firm has with Apple that lets its French operator Orange sell the iPhone 3G exclusively. The competition watchdog said the ban, which takes effect on Thursday, is aimed at letting consumers buy the gadget on contract from competing operators SFR and Bouygues Telecom, right in time for the holiday sales season. France Telecom said it would appeal the decision.
So, how angry are France Telecom execs with this decision? In a statement issued today, the global telecoms group had nothing but sharp criticism for the Competition Council whom it accused of making a decision without “in-depth examination,” that would not only “undermine Orange’s efforts to develop high-speed mobile services in France,” but would have a “major impact” on the market, with possible “serious consequences on manufacturers, as well as their subcontractors and software suppliers.” The best, however, was reserved for the number three operator Bouygues Telecom, which initiated the complaint in mid-September.
France Telecom basically accused its smaller rival, which it noted was “most behind” in rolling out its 3G network,” of crying to the Competition Council, rather than “offering genuine competition based on innovative offers.” It also noted that Orange has had the iPhone exclusive deal for a year now, but that it took Bouygues Telecom until now, just before the lucrative holiday sales season to request these “urgent conservative measures.”
The Council said in a statement that France Telecom’s five-year deal with Apple, which locks subscribers into a 12-24 month contract with Orange, adds another obstacle for consumers in a market already suffering from a lack of competition. Any future exclusivity deals would also be limited to three months at a time. As for an appeal, it’s going to take a long time for France Telecom to get the decision reversed, if at all. An “in-depth examination of the agreement” would likely take 12-15 months to complete, a Council spokesperson told Reuters.
Bouygues Telecom said in a statement it hoped to start selling the iPhone as soon as possible, while France’s second largest operator the Vivendi-Vodafone owned SFR, said it has “always been interested” in selling the iPhone, “but not at any price.”
L’iPhone, as its known in France, has been good to France Telecom, which said it has sold 450,000 of the 3G gadgets to date. As for other operators around the world, the iPhone has helped lure subscribers and boost data usage. The council estimated that Orange raked in 220 million euros ($308.2 million) from iPhone 3G sales from its July 18 launch to November 5. As for Apple, the ruling probably won’t be as much of a blow, especially as it has already dropped its exclusivity strategy in favor of selling through multiple operators in other European countries.
Add comment December 18, 2008
