France Telecom is in the early stages of examining a takeover offer for TeliaSonera, the Nordic operator, which would increase its exposure to emerging markets and strengthen its position in mobile internet services.
Gervais Pellissier, France Telecom's finance director, told the Financial Times his company was looking at a possible tie-up with the Swedish-Finnish operator, as well as exploring other options, including with Telenor of Norway. However, he said the former French monopoly saw "no need to hurry".
