French President Francois Mitterrand is seen as the big stumbling block to a full-scale privatisation of France Telecom, so any substantive moves in that direction are being held back until after the presidential election next year, reports Reuters from Paris. Then, the Right fully expects one of its candidates to assume power. France Telecom has already delivered its report on privatisation to the office of Gerard Longuet, Minister of Industry, Posts and Telecommunications. Although it has been cagey about the contents, apparently France Telecom wants corporate minority shareholders, such as its partners Germany’s Deutsche Bundespost Telekom and US long-distance operator Sprint Corp. But it would like to avoid rocking the boat and so would like to maintain staff working conditions to prevent a repeat of the anti-privatisation strikes of January and February.
Ministry as regulator
Despite the uncertainty and the delay until the Right expect to see the Socialists off next May, laws are being prepared for a strong regulator and the state wants to promote private investment in multimedia networks. However, it is the state Direction Generale de Postes et de Telecommunications that is being expanded into a regulatory position for telecommunications and related technology. The old demarcation between telecommunications, cable television, mobile radio are falling apart, an official said. You are seeing a new separation between infrastructure and content. The state will continue to regulate infrastructure but should not decide what can and what cannot be shown, he said. And no-one in the government appears to find it odd that the state will have a double role as owner of companies active in telecommunications and media, and as regulator. As long as you don’t try to load the dice there can be a fair game, the official said, adding that the creation of the Office of Telecommunications in Britain had not diminished the power of the Department of Trade & Industry in telecommunications issues, especially international ones. The regulator has to be aware of the economic consequences of its decisions and if France were to want every household to get access to information superhighways it should allow companies to get a return on the necessary investments. When France Telecom was the only player around, it was easy for the state to demand that there would be public phone booths in every town or village. The SFR unit of the utilities giant Generale des Eaux SA is offering cellular telephone services in direct competition with those from France Telecom. Lyonnaise des Eaux SA, France’s other main utilities group, construction company Bouygues SA and Alcatel-Alsthom SA are each heading a consortium bidding for the third cellular licence. Generale, Lyonnaise and France Telecom are also competing to acquire the cable television networks currently owned by state bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations. Chargeurs SA and the Videopole unit of Electricite de France have also put in a bid and in that quaint little way the French have, it is Prime Minister Edouard Balladur himself that will rule on who can buy the networks. Cellular operators are already allowed to lay their own cable and the electricity monopoly, the SNCF railway, the toll-road operators and the Canal Plus cable television operator all have networks that could be used for telecommunications, and are all keen to diversify into the rapidly growing sector.
