Orange parent company France Telecom has made its strongest hint yet that it is planning to acquire some of its rival European operators – but insists that it has still not opened talks with TeliaSonera, the Nordic operator it was linked to last month. “All the necessary conditions are in place for the group to take part in the consolidation of the European sector,” CEO Didier Lombard said in a statement announcing the group’s first-quarter results. However, in a conference call CFO Gervais Pellissier played down suggestions that an acquisition of TeliaSonera was imminent. The French group has also been linked to the Norwegian-based operator Telenor.

France Telecom’s first-quarter revenues increased 1.4 percent to €13 billion from €12.8 billion a year earlier, recording growth across all business segments. Its gross operating margin (deemed a similar measurement to EBITDA) grew 2.8 percent to €4.79 billion from €4.65 billion a year earlier. Pellissier also confirmed that the company is in talks with Apple regarding the launch of the iPhone in other territories where France Telecom operates, which could include Spain and Poland. Orange has sold 100,000 iPhones to date in France – where it is the exclusive distributor of the device – and Pellissier predicted another boost in sales when the 3G version of the device is released, expected later this year.