France Telecom today rounded out its domestic fiber rollout plans by adding Bouygues Telecom to its list of network partners.
The incumbent operator will offer Bouygues access to its fiber to the building networks in heavily populated areas, and has agreed wholesale cable access for less densely populated areas of France. The deal offers Bouygues access to 10.6 million homes in total.
A France Telecom statement called the agreement a “new milestone in the deployment of its networks and very high-speed broadband in France.” The telco penned similar deals with SFR and Iliad Group in the back half of 2011, as part of a goal to cover 15 million homes with fiber by 2020.
Separately, the operator is reportedly homing in on the sale of a second European division as part of a switch in focus to emerging markets. Hutchison Whampoa is in the frame to takeover Orange Austria in a deal that would value the cellco at €1.4 billion, Bloomberg reveals.
France Telecom holds 35% of the Austrian operator, with the remaining stake held by private equity firm Mid Europa Partners.
The sale would be France Telecom’s second in as many months, after it agreed to sell Orange Switzerland to Apax Partners for €1.6 billion in December.