Mon - European telco operators on the move again

It looks like a couple of mid-sized European telco operators are shaking up the telco puzzle yet again as Swisscom and a Virgin Mobile with the Carphone Warehouse go hunting abroad.

Today rumours that Swisscom, the long standing Swiss PTT is on the search for a major acquisition in Europe. The list of possible suitors include TDC, the danish group, that also owns one of Swisscom's local competitors, Sunrise. Swisscom is apparently also looking at Telekom Austria and Eircom of Ireland.

The fact that Swisscom's highly successful local competitor, Cablecom, has recently been taken over by Liberty Media makes Swisscom depserately in need of a deal to find growth abroad.

So too for Virgin Mobile who seems to be teaming up with the Carphone Warehouse to jointly bid for France's fourth mobile license. This all points to a continued accelleration in the consolidation of the Euro telco landscape as regional players are forced to consider merging to compete against larger pan-European players as well as to strengthen themselves as their local markets get liberated and competition intensifies.

This is of course all good for consumers as prices will continue to come under pressure and services improve with the convergence of internet access and telephony.