All posts in SFR
With 10 million subscribers, 4G starts to win over France
After a healthy start 18 months ago, 4G has begun to seduce the French public, with 10 million users now signed-up. The uptake of 4G was historically fast, with users taking to 4G 10 times faster than they did with 3G. Although Europe clearly trailed the US the roll-out of 4G, clearly things are […]
Following SFR and Virgin Mobile, Altice looks to acquire Portugal Telecom
Altice, led by telco mogul Patrick Drahi and owner of now SFR-Numericable, has their sights on Portugal Telecom (PT) for which it has made a reported 7.4 billion euro offer. As their offer proved to be more attractive than a rival 7.075 billion euros offer by Apax et Bain Capital, PT’s owner, Brazilian telco Oi, quickly advanced negotiations […]
After winning out on SFR, Numericable buys Virgin Mobile
After coming out on top in the negotiations for SFR, Numericable announced Friday that it is also entering into exclusive negotiations to purchase Virgin Mobile. According to Carphone Warehouse Group, 46% owners of Virgin Mobile’s France holding company Omer Telecom, the transaction would be valued at around 325 million euros. Carphone Warehouse Group, looks to […]
Vivendi chooses Numericable, Bouygues and Free on the sidelines for now
On Friday, the French telecom world was buzzing from a somewhat surprise decision that Vivendi would be entering into exclusive negotiations to sell-off its telco unit SFR to Numericable, effectively leaving Bouygues and, indirectly, Free out in the cold. While Numericable had reportedly been Vivendi’s preferred candidate early on, Bouygues came in later in the […]
Free may finally get its own network if a Bouygues-SFR deal goes ahead
Over the past couple weeks, Vivendi has been in concurrent negotiations with both Bouygues and Numericable about an eventual sale of SFR to one of the two telcos. It looks like whoever ends up the winner, the deal will be valued at around 10 billion euros. While both entities would be amassing substantial levels of […]
Numericable to purchase Vivendi’s SFR for €15 Billion; TelCo consolidation just getting started
Internet service provider Numericable has reportedly confirmed talks with Vivendi to purchase their ailing subsidiary SFR at a valuation of €15 Billion. The deal, which will see the new Numericable-SFR merger owned 32% by Vivendi and 50% by Altice, the parent company of Numericable, was first reported on Les Echos, though rumors of such a […]
Orange finally joins effort to bring 3G and 4G to Paris metro
After holding out due to its concerns over RATP’s high fees, Orange have finally signed on to bring its 3G and 4G services to Paris’ metro system. Bouygues and SFR accepted to join the effort last year, so with Orange finally coming on board, the vast majority (roughly 75%) of metro commuters will be covered […]
4G off to a roaring start in France
1.5 million. That’s the number of mobile customers that have jumped to 4G in just a little over a month. After struggling for some time to respond to Free’s shakeup of the mobile market just under two years ago, France’s established telco giants are responding more adeptly as of late. While they all moved to […]
Vivendi’s SFR spinoff & company restructure announcement fails to inspire shareholders.
In the past weeks the European Telco industry hasn’t been short of big news. After Vodafone Group Plc. agreed to sell its U.S. wireless business, and Microsoft Corp acquired Nokia’s Devices and Services division, the long-expected overhaul of Vivendi’s structure has taken a further step towards a more competitive group. Vivendi will divest in SFR […]
Doubling its market share in just one year, Free continues to shake up France’s telco market
Last week, Iliad, Free’s parent company, announced some very big results, proving that despite Orange’s, SFR’s and Bouygues‘ fairly effective response to Free’s entry into mobile, Free’s momentum isn’t slowing. If anything, it looks to be picking up steam. Some of the big highlights were – a doubling of its market share to 10% in […]