FRANCE TELECOM has confirmed its interest in the acquisition of the mobile operator ORANGE, put up for sale in the context of the MANNESMANN-VODAFONE AIRTOUCH merger (see 5 February) and evaluated at around EUR 32 billion. Other candidates are also in the running, namely Dutch KPN as well as VIVENDI, SBC, MCI WORLDCOM, BELL ATLANTIC and NTT DOCOMO.