France Telecom To Cut Fixed To Mobile Tariffs

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- France Telecom said late Wednesday it will cut tariffs for calls from fixed lines to mobile phones for residential clients starting Jan. 2.

In a statement, the Paris-based telecommunications company said the price decrease will reach up to 28% for the price paid per minute by all residential clients.

The move comes after France's telecom regulator last week said it would force the country's mobile-phone companies to slash wholesale tariffs by 24% starting Jan. 1.

The decision from the regulator, know as ARCEP, will cost France's three network operators - France Telecom, Vivendi Universal SA's SFR and Bouygues SA's Bouygues Telecom - an estimated EUR900 million in revenue.

France Telecom said clients making phone calls to its mobile unit Orange, for example, will pay 10.9 cents a minute after a 28% cut from the current price of 15.2 cents a minute.

-By Adriana Brasileiro, Dow Jones Newswires; +331 4017 1740; adriana.brasileiro@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 22nd December 2005