VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Orange CEO Stephane Richard announced expansion plans in North Africa. The French mobile company has recently launched 4G service in Jordan while its representative expressed willingness to end ties with Israel.

The chief executive of France's telecom leader Orange said on Saturday he believed the price war in the national telecoms sector was coming to a close.

France's Orange and Italy's telecom operator Telecom Italia have been discussing a possible alliance between the former monopolies, Orange's chief executive told the Journal de Dimanche.

Hutchison Whampoa (0013.HK), owner of Britain's fourth-largest mobile operator Three, is in talks with Telefonica (TEF.MC) about buying its O2 network, the Sunday Times reported, citing unnamed city sources.

Deutsche Telekom considered making a takeover bid for Dutch rival KPN in 2014, with a view to expanding in neighboring countries, sources familiar with the matter said.

EE's German and French owners confirmed on Wednesday they were in talks to sell Britain's biggest mobile network operator to BT (BT.L) as part of a wider review of its options. Fixed-line operator BT said on Monday it was in talks with both Telefonica's (TEF.MC) O2 and a rival operator about buying a mobile business.

French telecoms group Orange (ORAN.PA) has lowered the threshold of shareholder backing it needs in order for its 3.4 billion euro ($4.36 billion) offer to buy Spanish operator Jazztel (JAZ.MC) to go through.

Facebook (FB.O), the world's most popular social network, gained European Union clearance on Friday for its proposed $19 billion takeover of mobile messaging startup WhatsApp in a deal setting it against the telecoms industry.

Agreeing on the best way to end mobile roaming charges in Europe is proving a difficult task among EU member states who are keen to deliver on their commitment to consumers but unsure of how to go about it.

Orange has offered buy Spanish telecoms operator Jazztel for around 3.4 billion euros (4.40 billion US dollar), a deal that could help the French company jump ahead of rival Vodafone in the country's mobile market.

Telecoms operator Orange's investment in faster fiber and mobile broadband networks in its French home market has started to pay off, as its high-end focus insulates it from cut- price fixed plans offered by rival Bouygues.

It could take the French competition authority nine months to evaluate the possible takeover of Vivendi's SFR by Bouygues or Numericable for antitrust issues, Reuters reported.

UK-based telecommunications firm Vodafone Group Plc is in talks to purchase Spain-based cable operator Grupo Corporativo ONO SA, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg.

In a bid to match Silicon Valley's success, the European Commission (EC) launched the Startup Europe Partnership tech startup accelerator and the European Digital Forum think tank at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Tech giants Microsoft and Samsung are in talks to acquire stakes in a France-based online music startup and a video-sharing website, according to a report by French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche.