France Telecom and its subsidiary France Cables et Radio have regrouped three of their units to create Expertel, a company charged with every aspect of the design, installation and operation of PABXes in large French organisations. Expertel comprises Cables et Radio’s Enterprise Networking and Marketing and Development department, and France Telecom’s Multi-service Engineering and Consulting Service and Center for Construction and Maintenance for Ministries and Public Services. With a team of 500 people, the new company handles PABXs and PABX networks, cabling systems, multiplexers, commercial and industrial local area networks, video and multimedia networks and X25 and ISDN equipment. France Cables et Radio’s departments have specialised in enterprise networking since 1976, with a team of 160 people. SECIM was created in 1936 to serve the engineering and internal communications needs of government ministries. In 1985, it opened up to the market, competing largely for the architecture and installation of PABX voice networks. CCEM, which was also created to maintain and operate the government’s communication networks, has also been providing the same services to private customers.
