French water company to bid for French 3G licence

NEWS French utility company, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, is in talks with Spanish telco, Telefonica, to put in a bid for the fourth UMTS licence available in France. Suez is also in discussions with KPN and Telesystem, the third largest Canadian operator, for as yet unspecified new media ventures including digital television. However, Telesystem has confirmed it is interested in UMTS licences in Germany, the UK and Italy. A total of five licences are on offer to telcos. Current front runners to run France's third generation licences include France Telecom, Vivendi's Cegetal and Bouygues Telecom.