FT talks Turkey (and Tunisia)

France Télécom has confirmed that it is planning to take part in the privatisation of two telcos, Turkey’s second largest mobile firm Telsim and Tunisia’s monopoly wireline operator, Tunisie Télécom. The French company is likely to face strong competition in both auctions. So far, 15 companies have expressed an interest in acquiring the 35% stake up for grabs in the Tunisian firm, including MTN, Etisalat, Batelco and Telecom Italia. In Turkey, meanwhile, there are also 15 companies in the running, with Vodafone, Orascom and Telenor among the possible bidders.