debo schreef:
By contrast Europe’s telecoms landscape is far more fragmented than the U.S., with more than 100 carriers operating across the European Union plus 27 national telecoms regulators. The operational challenges of this patchwork have not passed the European Commission by. It is currently looking at ways to harmonise the region’s telecoms market to make cross-border consolidation more attractive. European telcos have also informally discussed the possibility of creating a pan-European shared network — in a scenario that could lead to rivals pooling their infrastructure to simplify operations and create cost savings.
A more harmonised, more collaborative European telecoms landscape could be one reason for AT&T to sniff around the region for possible takeover targets — albeit, it’s not clear how reform and closer ties between rivals might reshape Europe’s telecoms landscape in the near term, adding to the uncertainty.
According to a WSJ source, AT&T management has not yet made up its mind about whether a move abroad would make sense — in particular any move to enter major European markets such as the U.K., Germany or the Netherlands. U.K. telco EE (itself a joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom) — which owns and operates the Orange and T-Mobile brands in the U.K., along with the U.K.’s first 4G network — is reportedly one of the carriers on AT&T’s radar, along with Dutch telco KPN. Earlier today BloombergBusinessweek reported KPN shares rose to a one-month high on the news that AT&T was mulling European takeovers.
Bron: techcrunch.com