Orange & SFR warned by Arcep to meet 3G obligations
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: France Telecom and Vivendi SA has been warned by French telecommunications regulator Arcep to respect their obligations in terms of third-generation mobile coverage. According to Arcep, the 3G coverage of both the mobile operators did not meet the commitments made at the time of tenders for 3G licenses.
By August 21, Orange France’s 3G network covered 84% of the population and SFR’s covered 74% and on December 1, Orange covered 87% of the population and SFR covered 81%. However, Orange France has been asked by the regulator to reach 91% of the population by the end of 2010 and 98% by the end of 2011.
SFR is required to improve its coverage to 84% of the population by June 30, 2010, to 88% by the end of 2010, to 98% by the end of 2011 and to 99.3% by the end of 2013.
Bouygues SA’s Bouygues Telecom, on the other hand has already met the target of 75% by the end of 2010 by covering 80% of the population as of December 1.
France fourth 3G license has been given to Internet operator Iliad SA and the operator is committed to covering 27% of the population in 2012, 75% in 2015 and 90% in 2018.
Free win may shakeup French telecom market
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: The issue of fourth 3G license to Free, a subsidiary of the aggressive Groupe Iliad at the cost of €240 million has resulted in a major shakeup in the French telecom industry. The decision has been fiercely condemned by other incumbent players- France Telecom’s Orange, Bouygues Telecom and Neuf-SFR who paid €619 million ($885 million) each for their 3G licences a decade ago.
The decision of awarding the license to Free came after Virgin Mobile and Numericable dropped out of the bidding. The operator will receive its license in January and will have two years to build its network. The service is expected to start in 2012 and will cover almost 75% of the population in 2015 and 90% in 2018.
By offering triple-play bundled voice, data and internet TV services for less than €30 ($43) a month, Free has become France’s second largest ISP. Further deduction in the fees for the French customers has been promised by Iliad chief Xavier Niel.
France telecom to acquire Ezypt’s Mobinil
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: France Telecom got a green signal from Egypt’s regulator to acquire the assets of Egypt’s largest mobile carrier Mobinil. The decision puts an end to the dispute between France Telecom and Orascom
Telecom, other major shareholder in Mobinil.
Three offers ranging from EGP187/share, EGP237/share, and EGP230/share were made by France Telecom to buy Mobinil shares. The final offer that was accepted was 245 Egyptian pounds per share (€30.15).
Orascom Telecom is now left with two options, either to respond to the decision by selling all its shares of Mobinil and the holding company to France Telecom or objecting to the offer and challenging it through court or another arbitration round.
Meanwhile, the French Competition Authority fined France Telecom with €63 million, along with its Caribbean subsidiary, Orange Caraibe, following a complaint from Bouygues Telecom’s Caribbean subsidiary. In the complain, the telco is accused of thwarting competition in the mobile and landline markets in the French overseas territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyana.
In other complaints it is also accused of offering fixed to mobile tariffs to corporate clients at rates that were below reasonable costs.
Alcatel-Lucent will conduct LTE trial for Bouygues Telecom
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Alcatel-Lucent’s LTE equipment has been selected by French fixed and mobile operator Bouygues Telecom for the trial of its mobile broadband services. The field trial programme due to start at various sites in western France in 2010 will witness Alcatel-Lucent as the sole supplier and network integrator.
Through the trials, the operator can evaluate opportunities to introduce new multimedia applications and services. The end-to-end LTE solution supplied by Alcatel-Lucent will comprise base stations (eNodeBs), Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and its associated management system.
As the nineteenth customer to undergo trials by Alcatel-Lucent, Bouygues Telecom will be provided with professional services like project management and planning, installation, commissioning, integrat
ion and test plan execution services.
Bouygues Telecom puts freeze on hiring
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: French operator Bouygues Telecom will put a freeze on hiring as a part of cost cutting measures in order to cope up with competition in the French 3G mobile sector.
According to Bouyges Telecom CEO Olivier Roussat, the tender offer for France’s fourth 3G mobile license is also the reason behind the companywide hiring freeze. Earlier, the company used to recruit young graduates but this has also stopped. Currently, Bouygues Telecom has 8650 employees.
The pricing structure that was placed on the new license has been opposed by carrier judging it to be anti-competitive and it filed two appeals with the State Council to challenge the award procedure.
The carrier also wants to shake-up the fixed-line market, since it can access 3.3 million potential fiber-optic clients through its deal with French cable operator Numericable.
Bouygues adds 334,000 users in H1, revenue up 1%
 |
French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom had a stable turnover, up 1 percent to EUR 2.175 billion in the first half, compared to EUR 2.144 billion in the year-earlier period. The figure excludes the effect of Bouygues Caraibes, sold in April 2006. Net network revenues were stable at EUR 2.029 billion. Excluding the fall in call termination rates, Bouygues Telecom’s turnover would have risen by 6 percent, the company said. Bouygues praised the success of its Neo plan, introduced on 1 March, and offering unlimited calls to all operators. |
| The plan helped Bouygues add 334,000 customers in the first half. The company had 8.305 million customers at the end of June, or 10 percent more than a year earlier. It said it still has the market’s largest proportion of prepaid customers, 70 percent. Bouygues Telecom sister company, the broadcaster TF1, had revenue up 8 percent to EUR 1.377 billion in the first half, compared to EUR 1.277 billion a year earlier.
Source:http://www.telecompaper.com |
|
Technorati : Bouygues Telecom, France, Oprator
Ice Rocket : Bouygues Telecom, France, Oprator
