The CEO of Altice (SFR) mentions a return to three operators

For Altice CEO Alain Weill, a buy / merger transaction will inevitably take place on the French telecoms market, and perhaps quite quickly.

Alain Weill. © SFR – Visual Press Agency.

Last May, the Arcep (regulator of the telecom market) said it was no longer fiercely opposed to consolidation, which would result in a return to three operators. A scenario that we mentioned recently in an article entitled "Telecom market: what are the operators doing?" and which becomes even more topical following the remarks made by Alain Weill, managing director of Altice Europe (SFR).

On the occasion of a Paris event, he had indeed explained that a return to three operators "Will be done quickly enough" in France. "There is general agreement that consolidation makes sense", he added, recalling that Arcep and the government were not opposed. These declarations, taken up by Bloomberg, quickly waved stock prices, especially as the advent of 5G is approaching and the construction of this network will force operators to put a lot of money on the table ( while the deployment of fiber optics already largely uses their investment capacity). Alain Weill also mentioned investments "Considerable" in the 5G, which could quickly force this decision, according to him.

At the end of the session, last night, Altice Europe saw its title jump 10%. That of Iliad (Free) also evolved at the end of the day (+ 3%). The markets anticipate that if a merger takes place, it would potentially affect one of these two operators.