France Awards LTE Licenses to Four Operators

ARCEP, the office telecoms regulator in France, awarded licences to four operators to use the 2.6 GHz frequency band. The result of the auction is as follows:


Bouygues Telecom will be allocated a duplex frequency block of 15 MHz, for which the company bid the sum of €228,011,012.


Free Mobile will be allocated a duplex frequency block of 20 MHz, for which the company bid the sum of €271,000,000.


Orange France will be allocated a duplex frequency block of 20 MHz, for which the company bid the sum of €287,118,501.


Société Française du Radiotéléphone (SFR) will be allocated a duplex frequency block of 15 MHz, for which the company bid the sum of €150,000,000.


The licenses specify a maximum data rate of at least 60 Mbps. Each of the winning bidders also a commitment to host MVNOs on its network.


In total, the bids amounted to €936 million – significantly exceeding the reserve price of €700 million. ARCEP said the allocation procedure for the 2.6 GHz band marks the first stage in the award of 4G licences. The second stage will consist of the allocation procedure for the 800 MHz band, resulting from the digital dividend, for which the deadline for applications is 15th December 2011. http://www.arcep.fr