MONTREAL-Telesystem International Wireless Inc. announced its French subsidiary, Regiocom SA, has acquired S3RP, the specialized mobile radio operations of Bouyges marketed under the brand name Orbicom, making it the only national SMR operator in France.
The acquisition adds about 6,500 subscribers to Dolphin Telecom plc, the company that groups TIW’s SMR and ESMR activities in Europe and now totals 200,000 analog subscribers.
“This acquisition allows us to offer coverage to more than 95 percent of the working population and to better meet the needs of businesses and mobile work groups in France,” said Yves Marois, executive vice president of TIW and chairman of Dolphin. “We recently completed the acquisition of the French SMR operations of France Telecom, and will be able to realize additional economies of scale and operating synergies by combining our operations.”
In June, Regiocom was awarded the only license to build and operate a national digital ESMR network in the country based on the Terrestrial Trunked Radio standard by the regulatory agency there. TETRA combines digital cellular telephony with group calling, dispatch functions, push-to-talk option and high-speed data. The company expects to launch ESMR services in France during the second half of 1999.
Through Dolphin, TIW’s goal is to become, in its words, “the Nextel of Europe.” To date, it is the largest SMR operator in Europe with a footprint in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
