European Telecoms Market Could See Consolidation Say CEOs
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The European telecommunications market has room for further consolidation, chief executives of two of Europe's leading telecoms companies said Tuesday.
Speaking at a conference in London, Andy Green CEO of BT Group's Global Services unit said there is a lot of logic in further consolidation of the European telecoms market but regulatory obstacles could stand in the way.
Peter Erskine, CEO of mobile phone operator O2, which was itself bought by Telefonica earlier this year, said at the same conference: "There's a lot of talk about consolidation in Europe and in the UK, if you look at the mobile phone industry, you could put forward a strong case."
Speaking at The FT World Communications Conference, Erskine added that NTL-owned Virgin Mobile and Hutchison Whampoa's mobile operator 3 UK were two companies that were struggling to gain market share.
"Virgin Mobile has been very, very quiet before and since becoming part of NTL...and if [Hutchison's] 3 was a conventional western stock market listed company then the model wouldn't work and they might say it's time to get out," said Erskine.
BT's Andy Green, who heads BT Global Services, the IT networking division that contributes almost half of the telecoms company's revenues, said following merger and acquisition activity in the U.S. telecoms industry, further consolidation made sense in Europe.
"I think there's quite a bit of logic for further consolidation in Europe but regulation will be a big problem; it's fraught with difficulty," said Green. "Maybe one day that dam will break but not at the moment."
Green added that BT had no intention of selling its Openreach division, which was established earlier this to meet regulatory obligations of opening up the UK's telecoms networks to other service providers.
Company Web site: www.btplc.com
Company Web site: www.o2.com
-By Daniel Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9264; dan.thomas@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 21st November 2006
