Orange will not be the main protagonist in the potential consolidation of France’s mobile sector, according to the incumbent’s CEO delegate Gervais Pellissier.
In an interview with TelecomFinance, Pellissier – also Orange’s head of European…
Orange will not be the main protagonist in the potential consolidation of France’s mobile sector, according to the incumbent’s CEO delegate Gervais Pellissier.
In an interview with TelecomFinance, Pellissier – also Orange’s head of European operations (excluding France) – pointed out that in markets where four-to-three mergers have taken place, the number one in the market has not been the consolidator.
“We are the only one [in the market] that cannot buy 100% of somebody else without being obliged to sell a lot of pieces,” Pellissier said.
“This is why we have said if some of our competitors want to do something together then we are ready to help, if we are requested to do something, but we will no longer undertake the first step.”
The executive said Orange needs the positive impact of consolidation in France to aid market repair, but his company does not need to be bigger. It already has nearly 40% market share in mobile and 45% in broadband, noted Pellissier.
He also said that Orange may be able to capture some of the synergies that it would gain in a big merger through increased network sharing.
The full interview, which also covers Orange’s activity in the UK and Spain, will be available in the latest issue of TelecomFinance, out on Friday.
Separately, French economy minister Emmanuel Macron was quoted as saying today that the sale of the government’s 13.45% stake in Orange was not a priority. His comments came as the government recently announced plans to offload up to €10bn of state-owned assets over the next 18 months.
