(Telecompaper) Orange said it cannot take part in an operation to consolidate the French telecom market for now, finding that conditions have not been met. Without elaborating further, the operator stated "Orange has examined the possibilities of participating in an operation that would lead to consolidation in the French telecoms market, and believes that it cannot pursue this avenue at the present time as the conditions that the group has set have not been met." Orange reportedly hired two banks in early June to look into the possibility of buying Bouygues Telecom, an operation that would require competition remedies such as disposing some customers, selling mobile frequencies and most of the network to Free's parent company Iliad. The French government, which owns 27 percent of Orange, has said it wants to see the market return to three MNOs to enable operators to invest in fibre.