* Deal expected before the end of the year
PARIS, July 22 (Reuters) - French mobile operators SFR and Bouygues Telecom on Monday said they hadentered into exclusive talks to share part of their mobilenetworks.
The deal, which would help reduce costs, should be reachedbefore the end of the year, the two companies said.
The move emulates similar initiatives elsewhere in Europe asin the United Kingdom between mobile operators Vodafone and Telefonica.
The network sharing push is a response to the fierce pricewar triggered by the arrival of Iliad's low-cost operator, Free, into the mobile market 18 months ago.
The French government said in statement in response to thetalks between the two operators that network sharing wasparticularly suited for "when margin levels are moreconstrained," as is the case now.
French mobile operators have little choice but to share partof their networks to cut costs as European competitionauthorities have signalled their opposition to any furtherconsolidation in the market.
Vodafone (VOD)
