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French regulator to push for 3G network sharing

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:28:29 -0500

The three mobile operators in France will come under scrutiny from the National telecoms regulator, Arcep, with regard to 'encouraging' them to share their 3G network resources.

While Arcep has stated the process will be a public consultation exercise, it is thought the regulator is keen to examine and understand the conditions and extent to which the three operators could share their 3G resources across France. Network sharing is already possible, although France Telecom Orange, Vivendi SFR and Bouygues Telecom are not thought to have made use of the option.

This seeming reluctance to share network elements has prompted speculation that the regulator will define the conditions and the degree to which the three operators should (must?) share their 3G resources.

For more:
- go to Easybourse

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'Unfair' scream French operators over rate cuts

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:42:04 -0400

French mobile operators have complained bitterly over the planned cuts to mobile termination rates as proposed by the French telecom regulator, Arcep. The new regulation would, maintained the operators, cut tens of millions of Euros from their annual revenues and represented an unjustified exception in Europe.

France Telecom Orange claimed it was surprised by the excessively low level of the proposed new rates, which would take France completely out of the European average. "This has to be viewed in the light that our French network is one of the most extended in Europe," said an Orange spokesman.

SFR joined Orange in deploring Arcep's plans. The company argued French termination rates were already 24 per cent below the European average. "These new termination rates would represent an unjustified exception in Europe," said SFR.

As of July next year, France Telecom Orange and SFR would have their termination rates cut from €0.065 to €0.045 a minute, and for Bouygues Telecom the new rate would drop from €0.08 to €0.06 per minute. Further cuts are planned 12 months after this date.

For more on this story:
- go to borsa italiana

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Revamped SFR targets Orange France

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:50:53 -0400

Having completed its €4.4 billion merger with fixed-line operator Neuf Cegetel, SFR is now targeting Orange France in enterprise services and content. The merger, which will see the disappearance of Neuf Cegetel as a brand, will boost the new company's expected revenue to €12 billion for 2008 and provide it with the size and clout to take on Orange.

According to Frank Esser, CEO of SFR, the company will now have around a 12 per cent share of the fixed enterprise market, and 36 per cent of the mobile enterprise spend, leaving plenty of potential for growth. "We are a real challenger to France Telecom."

SFR also plans to attack Orange's content business, and Esser was critical of Orange's investment in exclusive football rights and other content. "Our strategy is very different to that of Orange, which is starting to pay too much for content," said Esser, stating that Orange's recent €300 million spend on football rights in France amounted to "€30 per year per Orange customer. It's better to leave content to partners," Esser contended.

Esser also commented that he did not expect any change in the short term to SFR's shareholding. The company is presently 56 per cent owned by Vivendi and 44 per cent owned by Vodafone.

For more on this story:
- go to Total Telecom

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Cut your SMS prices--PLEASE, says French government

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:57:53 -0400

The French population is beginning to complain loudly about increasing inflation, claims the French consumer goods minister, who has reacted by asking the country's three main operators--Orange, SFR and Bouygues, to cut SMS prices that have only fallen slightly over the past four years.

The minister, Luc Chatel, has urged the three operators to be aware of the problem faced by French consumers, and has invited them to make an example by cutting the cost of text messages.

The national regulator, Arcep, has provided support to Chatel's call by stating that French consumers on pay-as-you-go phones pay an average cost of €0.12 per text. This price has remained nearly constant since 2004 while the volume of texts has doubled in this period. Of interest are the prices of SMS from France's MVNOs that cost around 25-30 per cent less than from the three main operators. This 'consumer-pleasing' initiative by Chatel comes only days after the EU announced a proposal to slash by roughly two thirds the cost of text messages for people travelling between EU countries.

For more on this story:
- go to MoCo News

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Operators delay femtocell deployments

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:56:10 -0400

While the enthusiasm for femtocells continues unabated, several of the mobile operators that have lead the charge are having second thoughts due to unresolved technical issues and unclear business cases.

These concerns came to the surface during the Femtocell Europe 2008 conference when SFR said it had delayed selecting a femtocell supplier because of undefined industry standards. The company said that the expected deployment of the technology now would not commence until sometime next year.

SFR, of which Vodafone Group owns 44 per cent, participated in Vodafone's group-level request for proposals for femtocells last year, but it also issued its own RFQ separately. "We're assessing another technology in parallel," said Thierry Berthouloux, network solutions director at SFR. "However, we have decided to extend that assessment period and have put this process on hold to give equipment suppliers time to consolidate roadmaps. There's no point making a decision today."

According to those close to the situation, the issue for the major operators in agreeing to a standard is the need for clarity on 3GPP status and the lack of resource being provided by the larger femtocell vendors to achieve this.

For more on this story:
- go to Unstrung

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