France Telecom signed a strategic partnership agreement for fixed and mobile activities with the Portuguese company Sonaecom, to ramp up their cooperation that began in 1998. Under the terms of this agreement Sonaecom will be allowed to access to France Telecom Group’s programs (international mobile services, mobile multimedia content and terminals), while France Telecom hopes to harness its service platforms and seamlessly extend its international mobile services.
Furthermore, Sonaecom and France Telecom are planning to develop their cooperation on domestic networks and international traffic. There are also plans to scale up this cooperation to include other programs on all fixed, mobile and internet service lines, such as on convergent services.
At the same time as setting up this strategic partnership, France Telecom is selling its 43.33% minority interest in Novis (fixed telephony) and Clix (internet) and its 20.18% stake in Optimus (Portugal’s 3rd biggest mobile operator) to Sonaecom, a subsidiary holding the interests of the Portuguese group Sonae SGSPS in the telecommunications field. In exchange, France Telecom has acquired 23.70% of Sonaecom’s capital, making it the second biggest shareholder in Sonaecom after Sonae SGSPS.
The restructuring of France Telecom’s shareholding within the Sonaecom Group and the implementation of this strategic partnership will enable Sonaecom to further strengthen its integrated operator policy, drawing on the experience of France Telecom in this sector.
Em Foco – Empresa