FRANCE TELECOM AND DEUTSCHE TELEKOM ENTER THE SWISS MARKET.

France Telecom and its German partner Deutsche Telekom proceeded on October 22 to launch a national and international telephony service in Switzerland, using the so-called Multilink joint venture to do so. Based in Geneva, the new operator is targeting both the business (Multilink Business Access) and the residential (Multilink Home Access) markets. It claims to be able to offer competitive rates, particularly in the German and French border regions. According to France Telecom, the rates may be as much as 33% lower for domestic calls and 54% lower for international ones, compared with what the national operator Swisscom is charging. Multilink is based on the main structure currently being laid down by France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, to which local loops are to be added. Local loops for...