PARIS (AFP) — Italy's operator Telecom Italia is looking at the possible sale of its French Internet access unit Alice France, an informed source said Monday.
French investment bank "Calyon has been given the mandate by Telecom Italia (to examine the issue) but no formal sale process has been started", said the source.
The source added that "a sale is one of the options among others" open to Telecom Italia as it reviews its presence in the French market.
In Milan, when asked for comment, a spokesman for Telecom Italia said the company "had no information to communicate to the market".
A new management team has just taken the reins at Telecom Italia and is expected to unveil its strategy for the company in early March, another source said.
Earlier Monday, Le Figaro daily said Alice could be sold for 600-650 million euros (875-950 million dollars) as the Internet access market consolidates further in France.
Alice is one of the few small companies still in the sector which has seen a series of takeovers by the bigger operators.
It had 882,000 clients in France at the end of September, compared with several million each for the large groups.
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