French economy minister Arnaud Montebourg told a parliamentary committee that the government sees its policy of reconsolidating the mobile sector and bringing it down to three MNOs as "all the more relevant" now that Vivendi has accepted Numericable's offer to acquire its operator, SFR. Montebourg, who supported a rival bid from Bougyues Telecom that would have had this consolidating effect in mobile, said the government will work actively in this direction. Bouygues has reportedly started speaking about selling its operator to Free. He also added that it will ensure that Numericable keeps the promises it made with respect to jobs and a Paris listing for SFR-Numericable.
