France Telecom would consider taking over the subsea cables business of Alcatel-Lucent, Chief Executive Stephane Richard told reporters on Monday. The group has expressed its interest in principle in Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), though "for the moment it hasn't gone any further", Richard said.France Telecom has been looking for months at how ASN and its FT Marine unit could work better together, the CEO said.Alcatel, the loss-making Franco-American telecom equipment maker, is racing to cut costs and reduce cash burn after being hit by competition from low-cost Chinese rivals and lower spending on network gear by global telecom operators.French daily newspaper Les Echos reported last month that the government was trying to arrange a deal in which France Telecom would acquire part of Alcatel-Lucent's subsea cable unit, which was seen as a "strategic" asset.
France Telecom SA (France Telecom) is a France-based European mobile operator, Internet access provider, and telecommunications services provider for multinational businesses under the Orange brand. Shares of FTE traded higher by 1.54% or $0.18/share to $11.89. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $10.20 and as high as $15.87. On average, 1206430 shares of FTE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 578893.
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