France Telecom, Etisalat sign broadband agreement

PARIS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - France Telecom (FTE.PA) and UAE telecoms operator Etisalat ETEL.AD said on Monday they had signed a deal to cooperate on digital home services.

Under the agreement Etisalat will acquire a 16.6 percent stake in SoftAtHome, a joint venture launched by Thomson SA (TMS.PA), Safran (SAF.PA) unit Sagem and France Telecom to develop software for triple-play services. The operator will use SoftAtHome solutions for future broadband offerings, the two companies said in a statement.

Etisalat's chairman Mohammed Hassan Omran said the agreement paved the way for the two companies to cooperate on acquiring multimedia content including pay-per-view television. (Reporting by Helen Massy-Beresford; Editing by Greg Mahlich)