United Kingdom
Deutsche Telekom is acquiring U.K. operator One2One from Cable & Wireless and MediaOne Group. Deutsche Telekom Chairman Ron Sommer called the acquisition “key” to Deutsche Telekom’s international strategy and said it is an important step toward offering a cross-border mobile product.
British Telecom (BT) said it will acquire for US$5 billion Securicor’s 40-percent shareholding in BT Cellnet, the United Kingdom’s second-largest cellular operator-behind Vodafone-with about 5 million subscribers. BT already owns 60-percent of BT Cellnet, so the deal would give it full ownership.
Portugal
France Telecom signed an agreement with the Sonae group in Portugal through its subsidiary Sonae.com. The two already have a relationship as stakeholders in Optimus, the third-largest mobile operator in Portugal. Sonae.com is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sonae group and is a private fixed telecommunications operator. The partnership would be held 43.33 percent by France Telecom and 56.67 percent by Sonae. The deal lets them compete in the fixed-line market when Portugal’s market becomes fully liberalized in January.
Portugal’s sale of a 13.5-percent stake in Portugal Telecom raised about US$1.62 billion, according to the government. The sale of 42.1 million shares reduced the government’s stake to 10 percent.
Denmark
France Telecom announced it will sell to a group of financial investors 32 percent of its stake in Danish telecommunications operator Mobilix, which provides GSM 1800 MHz service and fixed telephony services. The sale would reduce France Telecom’s ownership in the company to 54 percent. The remaining 14 percent of Mobilix is held by the Danish National Railway Authority.
Tele Danmark bought into the Norwegian wireless market and raised its stake in Polish mobile carrier Polkomtel. The carrier acquired 19.6 percent of Norwegian NetCom ASA from Singapore Telecom for US$347.8 million. Tele Danmark, which already owns 19.25 percent of Polkomtel, invested US$63.4 million in the share capital of Polkomtel. Tele Danmark also announced plans to further expand its 20.8-percent holding in Czech carrier Ceske Radiokomunikace.
