SAINT-QUENTIN, France-Three prominent European companies are forging a partnership that will bid to operate the telecommunications system of the French railway.
The Bouygues Group of France will own 51 percent of the unnamed new venture; Bouygues Telecom operates a DCS-1800 mobile phone system in France. Bouygues is a prominent construction company that has diversified in recent years, becoming involved in cellular and paging.
The Stet Group of Italy will hold 49 percent of the new entity. Stet is the world’s sixth largest telecom operator and the holding company of a telecom group.
The Dusseldorf, Germany-based conglomerate Veba also will participate in the railway venture; Veba holds 15 percent of Bouygues Telecom.
Under the new agreement, Stet also will take an interest in BDT, the holding group that owns 51 percent of Bouygues Telecom, through a share issue reserved for Stet.
The telecom networks of national railway systems are opening up throughout Europe as European nations break up government telecom monopolies to meet the European Union’s Jan. 1, 1998 free market deadline.
Bouygues said the alliance is part of its strategy to expand and further diversify into communications and the management of public utilities. Other partners in Bouygues Telecom are Cable & Wireless plc, U S West International, the Jean-Claude Decaux Group, Banque Nationale de Paris and the Paribas Group.
