The financial test is important for the State

The famous fourth mobile telephony licence eligibility requirements have increased. After months of delay and a week of additional time due to the financial crisis, the President of the Republic should announce major lines Monday, with its "Digital France 2012" plan.

A priori, the available frequencies should be cut into lots and assigned to several candidates... but no priority is given to a new entrant to really compete with Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom. A camouflet (Arcep) telecoms regulatory authority which was actively that it facilitates the arrival and launch of a fourth operator. The proposals made by the independent authority in this sense seem to have been ignored by the political power which does not wish to impose a new entrant. It is also a hard blow to Iliad, the home of Free, who ran the fourth licence for two years.

Arcep went yet to defend his position Tuesday before Eric Besson, Secretary of State to digital which recommendations have inspired plan "2012 digital France". The Constable of telecoms advocated a procedure booking priority of frequencies to a new incoming and a decrease in the price of the fourth licence currently set at EUR 619 million. But Eric Besson does not appear on this wavelength. He reminded the members of the Arcep "the wish of the Government to quickly launch a call for applications based on criteria of enhancement of the intangible heritage of the State, coverage of the territory and competition, including promoting offers capable of improving the situation of virtual mobile operators (MVNO)"...

Financial criteria

To bring more competition, the Government prefers clearly favour the small existing operators such as NRJ Mobile and Virgin Mobile, a fourth operator as Free whose services would not come before 2012. It therefore moves a beauty contest promoting those that already host of MVNO: namely, Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom...

The financial test is important for the State. Prime Minister François Fillon had part in the "Echos", October 1, will not "sacrifice the interests of the State". In these difficult times for public finances, all school money is good to take. However, with comfortable margins, the three operators have the means to pay the high price where Free is reluctant.

Xavier Niel group has however not necessarily totally lost so far. The number two French Internet access can still file a record saying open to MVNO hosting on its mobile network. It is in that Free wrote to Arcep in September. The operator "has the desire to quickly open its network to external partners MVNO to a critical size in the market as quickly as possible", were then leaders of Iliad. Another solution, Free could itself become a "virtual operator"... If and only if Orange, SFR and Bouygues improve financial and technical conditions to the MVNO to rent their network. A decade of alternative operators are introduced in France, but they have difficulty to exist with less than 5 market share.

The competition Council also criticized this summer "the particularly restrictive contractual conditions" imposed by Orange and SFR for the MVNO.