France Telecom shares edged up by 0.44 percent to 22.80 euros here, while the CAC 40 index of leading shares showed a gain of 0.19 percent.

Telecoms equipment maker Alcatel, which manufactures hardware used to provide the service, was up by 1.26 percent at 10.48 euros.

On Thursday, France Telecom said it was joining with the satellite broadcaster TPS to offer 48 television channels for a total 37 eurosdollars) per month plus a one-time installation fee of 64 euros.

Pay-per-view programs would also be available, the telecoms operator added.

"With this new service, customers can simultaneously telephone, surf the Internet and watch television on a regular TV set," a company statement said.

Available now in the central city of Lyon, the so-called triple play services are to be extended to Paris in the coming months, "followed by a swift rollout in other major French cities".

France Telecom will be competing with its "MaLigne tv" offer against smaller telecoms already present in a market that provides the services for less than the cost of three separate subscriptions.

With an investment of several dozen million euros, the company is also trying to head off cable operators that are beginning to offer phone services.

Thierry Breton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of France Telecom, said: "Thanks to "MaLigne tv" consumers can create their own personal program schedule thanks to the wealth of content available, coupled with innovative TV and video-on-demand features."

The services, he added, "leverage the power of our ADSL infrastructure and advanced digital compression technology, combined with our secure network architecture."

While precise figures on the number of subscribers were not revealed, TPS spoke in September of aiming for 300,000 clients in five years.

Customers of rival telephone carriers that use France Telecom lines for the so-called last mile of connections will not have access to the new service.

SPACE.WIRE