France Telecom CEO: Crucial To Get Large Chunk Of French 4G Spectrum

France Telecom SA (FTE) is counting on getting a large chunk of the fourth-generation spectrum that the French government will auction next year, Chief Executive Stephane Richard said Wednesday.

Richard, speaking at a web conference just outside of Paris, said he expects mobile data traffic to be ten times higher in two years time. "Right now we have no problem to manage the capacity of our network, but we need to prepare for the future," he said.

The CEO also said the company will "progressively" move away from unlimited mobile data packages to adapt pricing to increasing data usage.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conference, Richard also said the group is currently talking with three parties about a potential partnership for its Orange Sport channel. These parties include: U.S. Sports channel ESPN, French TV channel Television Francaise 1 SA (TFI.FR) and the French Football League.

A board meeting Wednesday will consider a potential project to buy a minority stake in Iraqi operator Korek, but "nothing has been decided" yet, the CEO added.

-By Ruth Bender, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]