France Telecom's mobile empire
It's not just in the US that the mobile phone industry is consolidating. A similar process is taking place in the more fragmented European market. The leader overall has been UK-based Vodafone, with operation throughout Europe, where it is #1 or #1 in many countries (as well as a partner with Verizon in the US's Verizon Wireless).
Now Vodafone has a strong challenge from France Telecom, which this week purchased a majority stake in Amena, Spain's #3 mobile phone provider. The $7.7 billion deal sends the French company, through its Orange cell phone unit, into the #2 position in the industry. It outbid two non-industry rivals, private equity firms.
Vodafone current has 89 million subscribers in Europe; France Telecom/Orange, with the Amena subscribers, will have around 67 million; German-based T-Mobile (which was #2) has around 61 million. Orange has subscribers in France, the UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Romania.
In Europe, as in the US, the same companies are more and more offering mobile phone service and fixed-line service, as well as high-speed Internet and Internet telephony (VOIP). France Telecom already has a modest position in other telecom services in Spain, with fixed line telephones and high-speed Internet clients. This move makes France Telecom an even greater competitor to Spain's #1 phone company, Telefonica, in all three areas. Telefonica Movile, a division of Telefonica, is the #1 mobile phone provider in Spain, while Vodafone is #2.
As France Telecom bought Amena, another fixed-line Spanish phone company, Ono Group, announced it will buy Auna, Amena's parent company, with fixed-line assets in selected cities. Together, the two companies will make up the #2 fixed-line Spanish phone company, though far behind Telefonica, the former state phone company.
Other recent European phone industry deals show the trend of combining services. They include:
- Egypt's Orascom Telecom Holding along with an investment group, bought Italy's Wind Telecommunication in a €12.1 billion deal. Wind is the #3 Italian mobile provider after Telecom Italia (TIM) and Vodafone. Orascom is the leading telecom company in the Middle East, Orascom has declared its intention to look for other acquisitions in Europe.
- Dutch-based KPN NV, the largest Dutch phone company offers fixed, mobile, and Internet services in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. It recently announced it would buy Dutch mobile phone provider Telfort for €1.12 billion. This adds 2 million more users to KPN's over 6 million subscribers.
- Sweden's Tele2 announced it would buy Dutch-based Versatel Telecom in a deal worth €1.34 billion, Tele2 teamed with equity firm Apax Partners, which will acquire Versatel's German assets.
Tele2 Ab is an interesting case, trying to become one of the European leaders, In addition to the Versatel buy, it has over the last 2 years bought:
- Small Spanish mobile provider Comunitel, with a number of business customers in Madrid.
- The Danish phone and Internet operations of Tiscali, an Italian Internet provide
- UTA Telekom, an Austrian Internet provider
- Votec Mobile, a contender in the growing Russian mobile phone Russia
- Alpha Telecom, a growing UK VOIP provider
Tele2 has also opened new operations in Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, and the UK. France.
3:32:58 PM 
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