33 / 98
Wire & Cable ASIA – November/December 2010
31
Telecom
news
urged that a government minister
be tasked with developing a
coordinated plan to improve
broadband reach and speed
countrywide.
France Telecom on 6
✆
✆
th
September
said that its Polish arm Tele-
komunikacja Polska, in which it
holds a 49.8% stake, has been
ordered by an arbitration tribunal
to pay $510 million to Danish
Polish Telecommunications Group.
As reported in
MarketWatch
by Simon Kennedy, the decision
derives from a dispute over a fibre
optic cable network and covers
the period from February 1994
to June 2004. A second phase
of the proceedings will cover
the subsequent period through
January 2009, unless the parties
come to a settlement. France
Telecom said Telekomunikacja
Polska is examining its options
with regard to taking further legal
action.
In other news of France Telecom,
✆
✆
the company – seeking growth
in Africa and the Middle East
to offset sluggish demand and
intense competition in Europe
– said on 10
th
August that it has
been in talks to buy a stake in
Morocco’s number 2 telecom
operator Medi Telecom SA, or
Meditel. The acquisition would
be the first under CEO Stephane
Richard, who took over at France’s
biggest phone company (Europe’s
third-biggest) in March with the
intention of doubling revenues in
emerging markets in five years,
largely through acquisitions. Over
the period to 2015, the company
expects to spend up to $9.3 billion
on such deals, Mr Richard said in
April. Through its Orange brand,
France Telecom already has a
regional presence — in Egypt,
Kenya, Senegal, Ivory Coast,
Tunisia and Mali.
The
importance
of
South
✆
✆
America to European telecom
operators is demonstrated by
the agreement between Telecom
Italia and Argentina’s Werthein
family that will increase the Italian
company’s interest in Telecom
Argentina SA. The Wertheins and
Telecom Italia are joint owners
of the holding company Sofora
which has a controlling stake in
Telecom Argentina. Telecom Italia
had come under some pressure
from the Argentine government to
step out of Telecom Argentina to
avoid antitrust issues. The deal,
announced 6
th
August and subject
to the approval of regulators in
Argentina, will presumably allow
Telecom Italia a wider range of
options for its future in the country.
Telecom Italia’s move to strengthen
its South American presence followed
closely on the acquisition by its
Spanish rival Telefónica SA of Portugal
Telecom SA’s stake in Brazilian mobile
operator Vivo Participações SA. With
the $9.87 billion buyout, Telefónica
claimed “undisputed leadership of the
Brazilian telecommunications market,
which has been a key market for the
company since it entered there in
1999.”
For its part, Portugal Telecom is
believed to have agreed to buy a stake
in Brazil’s biggest phone operator
Telemar Norte Leste, known as Oi.