French telecoms regulator Arcep has asked the country’s four mobile operators to end existing network sharing deals.
French telecoms regulator Arcep has asked the country’s four mobile operators to end existing network sharing deals.
To gain feedback on the measure, the regulator has launched a working document as part of a public consultation ending on 23 February. The document, it emphasised, is based on the current four-player market. If that structure were to change, it said it would amend its analysis. Orange is currently in talks to acquire Bouygues Telecom, a deal that would shrink the market to three players.
Arcep has asked Free and Orange to terminate their 2G/3G roaming agreement, which enables Free customers to access Orange’s network, “quickly, without waiting for the existing contract to expire”. This is because Free, which entered the market in 2012, is now well established. It suggested that 3G sharing cease between the end of 2018 and 2020, and 2G between 2020 and 2022.
It has also asked SFR and Bouygues Telecom to set a “specific end date…between the end of 2016 and the end of 2018” for their 4G network sharing agreement, which enables SFR to use part of Bouygues 4G network, because “investments in 4G infrastructure are crucial to the market’s vitality.”
The pair have not been asked to end their 2G and 3G network sharing.
Arcep has asked the operators to “indicate the dates they believe are justified,” based on the guidelines it has laid out.