PARIS--The head of the French telecom industry lobby Pierre
Louette said that taxes and competitive pressures in France could
dent operators' investments and performance, in an interview with
French daily Le Figaro published Monday.
"The government will have to make clear choices. It can't ask us
at the same time to invest, lower prices and have us pay taxes
which are 25% higher than in any other industry," Mr. Louette, who
is also France Telecom SA's (FTE.FR) co-chief executive, said.
In France, telecom operators have to pay specific taxes, on top
of corporate tax, to help support the cinema and television
industries, while also paying for the rights to broadcast a
movie.
As 4G mobile networks are installed around the country, Mr.
Louette said he believed that 4G mobile services should indeed be
more expensive than basic ones.
Mr. Louette also said he believed that internet giants such as
Google Inc. (GOOG), Apple Inc. (AAPL) or YouTube should pay more
taxes than they currently do, as they are all based outside France,
thus escaping most of the taxes there.
Newspaper website: http://www.lefigaro.fr
Write to Geraldine Amiel at geraldine.amiel@dowjones.com
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