Since the thunderous arrival of Free
and the generalization of low-cost offers, operators are seeking to reduce
their costs of developing or maintaining their respective networks. We
was thus able to seeSFR and
Bouygues Telecom pool their networks to resist the drop in
prix.
At the time, one could wonder if this merger heralded the beginning of
inevitable consolidation. Well, that's the way to go sinceAfter
Numéricable's proposal to buy SFR, it is now Bouygues who has
filed a buyout offer:
Despite an increase in the number of mobile customers, SFR saw its figure
business decline by 9.6%, thus putting the second largest operator in difficulty
French owned by Vivendi. After numerous reconciliations and
partnerships with SFR, it is therefore almost 'logically' thatBouygues
offers to buy out its competitor and nevertheless partner.
Bouygues highlights a merger between its subsidiary Bouygues Telecom and SFR
which, by putting in a common pot the investments necessary for
deployment of fiber and 4G, would becomethe first operator
from France(and the 7th in Europe) with a more financial situation
stable.
Bouygues Telecom puts 10.5 billion on the table and offers Vivendi
take 46% of the shares of the new entity while reserving 49% with
the possibility of then selling up to 15% of their stake once the
group incorporated on the stock exchange.
With two complementary networks covering the whole of France, the
new operator would have a customer base but also a vast network
business enabling the future to be sustainable. Bouygues also announces
want to invest 400 million euros per year to deploy fiber with the
objective of seeing 12 million homes connected by 2017.
The fact remains that each operator already has a well-developed 'commercial' network
and we can wonder if the presence everywhere in France of SFR Et stores
Bouygues is not likely to have negative impacts on employment. There too,
Bouygues is optimistic by announcing "that such a merger could even
revitalize employment in the sector with the advantage of going from 4 to 3."
In any case, it is the Competition Authority which will have to rule
on this merger proposal which, as it had already announced in 2013,
would require concessions.
i-nfo.fr - Official iPhon.fr app
By : Keleops AG
