Canada's Northern Telecom and Britain's United Utilities set up a joint venture called Nor.

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For all of Italy's sclerosis, it is a telecom battleground, with Britain's Vodafone (nyse: VOD - news - people ) and a venture owned by Hong Kong titan Li Ka-shing among the participants.

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In the past year, for example, Pernod Ricard struck a big deal to buy Britain's Allied Domecq, and France Telecom bought Spain's Amena.

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Yet some of the deals in which British groups such as Swire and Hongkong Telecom, which is owned by Britain's Cable and Wireless, have sold stakes to Chinese groups look more like the results of greenmail than the formation of useful partnerships.

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Among its many overseas operations, France Telecom owns the Orange mobile phone company in Britain, and Mobistar in Belgium.

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Last year Hutchison Telecom exchanged its highly successful Orange mobile phone operation in Britain for 10% of Germany's Mannesmann services conglomerate.

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The world's third-largest telecom equipment maker saw its earnings and net margin impeded by the 2006 acquisition of Britain's ailing Marconi.

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Britain's telecoms regulator, Oftel, has been criticised for failing to crack the whip over British Telecom.

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