• silicon.com
• Technology
• Networks

By Christophe Guillemin, 10 September 2003 15:02

NEWS After two less than stellar years, the European telecoms sector seems to be seeing a new - albeit limited - climate of confidence, according the analysts at French group Idate. In the space of a few months, several European mobile operators have announced or completed moves to distribute more stocks and it's a situation that appears to indicate a return to privatisation in the sector, says Idate – the Institute for audiovisuals and telecoms in Europe. Didier Pouillot, head of the industrial analysis department at the Institute, said in a statement: "After a freeze of around two years, telecommunications operators are starting to distribute more shares, indicating that a climate of confidence in the sector, could be, at least partially, on its way back." He highlighted that in France a telecoms law under discussion, presented to parliament in July, re-examined the status of France Telecom and, in its current form, anticipated a repeal of the state's obligation to remain majority shareholder. It's not an isolated case. In Belgium, a similar move may be on the cards with Belgacom's eventual entry onto the stock market, by way of a sell-off of some of the shares currently held by the state and/or shares held by one of the strategic partners of the Belgain operator being put on the market, said Idate. It's the same situation in Austria, where the state is looking to pull out of Telekom Austria, via a flotation on the stock market, a transfer to a financial investor or a sale to an industrial partner, Idate added. It's also worth noting that, like in France with Orange, the operator is looking to retake total control of its mobile operator. In Norway, at the end of June, the state ceded a new 13.9 per cent slice of capital in Telenor, then a supplementary 2.1 per cent at the start of July. Finally, in Germany the KfW bank, which holds part of the state's stake at the heart of Deutsche Telekom, has just sold six per cent of the operator's capital in the form of convertible bonds. Christophe Guillemin writes for ZDNet France, translated by Jo Best