France Telecom yesterday confirmed that it had held talks with Cable & Wireless, the 58 per cent owner of Hongkong Telecom, over the possibility of the group joining the Global One alliance.
The announcement follows a report in The Wall Street Journal that C&W and France Telecom were in talks to attempt a takeover of Sprint Corp of the United States.
Michel Bon, chairman of France Telecom, said that the company was looking at becoming a member of the Global One alliance comprising France Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Sprint.
'Any reports about Cable and Wireless teaming up with France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom to buy Sprint are without foundation,' he said.
'There are talks with Cable and Wireless and they centre on seeing whether the company can become the British partner for Global One,' he said.
