RPT-UPDATE 1-Orascom will not bid for 4th French 3G licence

(Repeats with new Reuters story code)

* Bids for licence due on Oct. 29

* Clears path for other potential bidders like Iliad

By Alastair Sharp and Leila Abboud

CAIRO/PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Egypt's Orascom Telecom (OT) (ORTE.CA)(ORTEq.L) will not bid for France's fourth 3G mobile licence, a spokeswoman for the company said on Monday.

"It was announced today in our analyst day that OT/Weather will not be bidding," the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement, referring also to Oracsom's parent Weather Investment. She did not give a reason.

Weather and OT are owned and run by Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris.

The decision is a turnaround from July when Sawiris told French newspaper le Figaro he was interested in entering the French mobile market. Since then, Orascom has been in talks with French cable operator Numericable and Bollore Group, among others, according to analysts.

The entrant of a new player into Europe's third-largest telecom market could reshape what has long been one of the most profitable mobile markets.

Analysts say a fourth entrant risks lowering prices and pressuring margins in mobile at France Telecom (FTE.PA), Vivendi's SFR mobile unit (VIV.PA) and Bouygues Telecom (BOUY.PA).

So far, only Iliad (ILD.PA), France's second-biggest broadband provider, has said publicly it intends to bid for the licence. Numericable and Virgin Mobile have said they are considering making a bid. A spokeswoman for Numericable declined to comment on whether it had been in talks with Orascom or on their outcome.

Bids are due to be submitted by Oct. 29. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp in Cairo and Leila Abboud in Paris; Editing by David Holmes)