www.euronews.com France Telecom suffered an 8.1 percent fall in operating profit and sales slipped in the first quarter of the year. It, and the other established French phone companies, are facing stiff competition with the launch of Iliad 's low-cost Free Mobile. The former state-owned monopoly lost 615000 clients between January and March but said the haemorrhaging has slowed. First-quarter revenue was down 1.8 percent to 10.92 billion euros, that compared with a forecast for 10.81 billion. It was helped by a deal to carry Free Mobile's traffic while the new player builds its network. The price war sparked by Free Mobile has changed France from being one of Europe's more profitable markets to one of the toughest. Margins have been forecast to fall to the mid-20s percent - akin to the competitive British market - from the mid-to-high 30s. France Telecom, Vivendi's SFR and Bouygues Telecom are having to spend heavily to retain customers, and two of the three have scaled back dividend pledges. France Telecom itself has cut prices, pushed its low-cost brand Sosh, and offered all-inclusive bundles of mobile, fixed, TV and internet. *Bouygues buys Dartybox* French mobile phone and broadband operator Bouygues is to buy Dartybox paying 40 million euros. That is the telecoms business of household appliances chain Darty which is part of struggling British retailer Kesa. As part of the deal Kesa will continue to get some revenue from existing and future subscribers. *New boss at ...

• published: 03 May 2012
• views: 171
• author: Euronews