KPN considers network sharing in German market

* Says network sharing with 02 in Germany is an option

* Says open to sale of Belgian assets if price is right

By Nicola Leske

BARCELONA, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Dutch telecoms group KPN (KPN.AS) said it may consider network sharing with Telefonica's (TEF.MC) O2 Germany to share costs and also said it was open to a sale of its Belgian unit if the price was right.

"Network sharing with O2 is an option, nothing is excluded," chief executive Ad Scheepbouwer said on Thursday at a conference.

"We do network sharing with mobistar in Belgium. It's a good way to share costs but we do not have specific talks."

The comments come ahead of an auction for additional spectrum in Germany planned for the first quarter 2010.

KPN's German unit E-Plus and O2 Germany have said they are at a disadvantage compared with market leaders T-Mobile (DTEGn.DE) and Vodafone (VOD.L), who entered the market much earlier.

"I think Telefonica and we will look at this jointly. If there is a possibility to jointly look at this spectrum there might be a cost saving exercise," Scheebouwer said.

The two smaller operators have asked the German telecoms regulator to ensure fair access to important frequencies below one gigahertz for all mobile telecoms providers by limiting bidding rights for large players.

Asked about the possibility of merging the two businesses, Scheepbouwer said both companies would only sell if they got a high price.

KPN is also active in Belgium where, according to media reports, it is looking to dispose of assets.

"In the Belgian market we have been unduly squeezed. We have not really had a chance to compete," Scheepbouwer said, adding: "What we do with the business meanwhile I do not know yet, the business is not growing much. If we get a good price we may sell it".

Mobistar (MSTAR.BR), Belgium's second biggest mobile phone operator has said it is looking into acquiring KPN Belgian assets. "Mobistar always examines opportunities on the market. We have not yet taken any decisions," a spokeswoman said earlier this month. [ID:nL7712946]

Belgian daily De Tijd had reported KPN had started a formal procedure to sell its business-customer unit and fibre network in Belgium.

KPN, which owns the smallest of Belgium's three mobile operators, BASE, is active in broadband through Tele2 Belgium, which it acquired in 2007 and recently rebranded BASE.

A shortlist of potential buyers had been drawn up, De Tijd said, with sources citing Belgian cable company Telenet (TNET.BR) and corporate telecoms specialist Colt Telecoms (COLT.L) as other candidates. (Editing by Dan Lalor)