French Telecom Body: Too Many Taxes to Dent Investments - Report

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 [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires