France Telecom could sell part of its over 60% stakes in both mobile networks Orange Kenya and Orange Uganda.

France Telecom has announced it is in the process of reviewing its Kenyan and Ugandan operations to determine their business sustainability or the possibility of acquiring additional partners in these two countries.

The french company has hired Lazard Consultants to help it in the strategy review.

Orange, which is Kenya’s third largest mobile operator after Safaricom and Airtel, has a 7.1% market share of the Kenyan mobile market with 2.2 million subscribers.

But the likes of Orange Kenya saw a drop in its revenues to Ksh 9.7 billion ($114m) in 2013 from Ksh 10.2 billion in 2012.

Meanwhile, Orange has struggled to make a dent in Uganda’s mobile market where MTN and Airtel dominate.

“One option would be to find new partners in these countries to ensure that the necessary financial and operating resources are available to maintain investment and support the continued development of operations,” said France Telecom’s press officer Tom Wright.

This move comes after yuMobile (Essar Telecom), Kenya’s fourth largest mobile operator, announced its plan to sell its Kenyan operations to rivals, Safaricom and Airtel Kenya, citing consistent losses over the past few years.

As part of the deal, Safaricom is expected to acquire yuMobile’s infrastructure while Airtel is set to gain its mobile subscribers.

In light of this, Orange Kenya in particular could come under pressure owing to Airtel growing its subscriber base and Safaricom bumping up its infrastructure capacity.

And commenting on France Telecom’s announcement, Noah Mutai an IT research lecturer and telecommunications analyst at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), said that Kenya is set to witness a major shift in its telecoms industry, depending on whether Orange takes in new partners or decides to close its East African operations altogether.

“If Orange Kenya decides to take in new strategic partners, then that means they will be in a better position to fight their rivals (Safaricom and Airtel Kenya),” Mutai told ITWeb Africa.

“Otherwise if they decide to sell their operations, it will be a herculean task to whoever will try to fit into those shoes as Safaricom and Airtel will also have realigned themselves to attract Orange’s customers.”