On June 25, 2002, Standard&Poor's lowered its long- and short-term corporate credit ratings on France Telecom (FT) to triple-'B'/'A-3' from triple-'B'-plus/'A-2'. The downgrade primarily reflects Standard&Poor's expectations that FT will acquire the 71.5% stake it does not already own in German wireless operator Mobilcom, as well as FT's inability to reduce debt sufficiently and rapidly enough to maintain credit measures consistent with the previous ratings. Standard&Poor's also lowered to triple-'B' from triple-'B'-plus its long-term corporate credit rating on Orange S.A., FT's majority-owned wireless subsidiary. The long-term ratings on both companies remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on March 28, 2002, reflecting FT's challenging refinancing needs, including €15 billion of financial
