France Telecom SA, which on January 1 1991 becomes an autonomous entity in the public sector, reports that for 1989, it achieved operating profits equivalent to $827.6m, 2.5 times better than in 1988; turnover rose 7.9% to $17,109m. The public telephone operator puts the improvement down to a better economic climate and its own diversification. The core telephone business accounted for 68% of the total, and rose 7.1%, but traffic volumes rose 11%. Payphone business rose 9.7%, business traffic was up 8.8%, with residential lagging at 3.6%, although business from second homes rose 12.7%.Cellular service rose 74%, facsimile traffic rose 72% to reach $414m. Investment took $5,500m with optical fibre, cellular and video services in the van. Research and development stood at $702m.
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