French operators to spend €1bn on 4G mobile licences

Pascale Paoli-Lebailly ©RapidTVNews | 24-09-2011

French telcos Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free will have to pay €1bn to get the 4G mobile licences they’ve been granted by French authorities, for the next 20 years.

Fourteen lots of frequencies adapted to urban areas were attributed on Thursday by telecom regulatory body Arcep for a total amount of €936m.

Orange will pay €287m for 20MHz frequencies followed by market newcomer Free, which will pay €217m. SFR will get 15MHz frequencies for €150m along with Bouygues, which offered €228m.

A second round is expected on 15 December regarding the lower frequencies (800MHz) dedicated to the rural areas. The lower price accepted has been set up at €1.8bn.

4G mobile licences are available owing to the new digital capacities  resulting from the analogue switchover.


4G mobile TV telco Orange SFR Bouygues Telecom Free

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