PARIS-Paris-based France Telecom reported Aug. 12 that its consolidated revenues for the first six months of 1999 increased by 7.4 percent to $13.92 billion, compared with the same period last year.
Mobile telecommunications revenues jumped by 43.4 percent to $2.5 billion, “mainly from the fast-paced growth of the Itineris [Global System for Mobile communications] cellular service,” the company said. Itineris added 3 million subscribers during the past 12 months, and it had a total of 6.9 million customers at the end of June. However, Itineris’ share of the domestic market remained stable at 49.2 percent.
France Telecom credited fixed-line services for much of the 41.2 percent growth in its international revenues, which reached $1.5 billion during the first half of this year. Nevertheless, the carrier also said its wireless business outside France continued on a strong growth path.
Consolidated subsidiaries had 2.3 million mobile service subscribers outside France on June 30, representing an increase of almost 50 percent during the first six months of 1999, the company said.
