Europe France : ARCEP consulted the Radio Communications Advisory Commission, whose members were officially appointed February 7th. Following this consultation, the regulator adopted and is sending to the Minister Delegate for Industry a decision proposing the procedures and conditions for authorising a third generation mobile system in Metropolitan France.

This decision follows a public consultation carried out between October 5 and November 17, 2006 in which players expressed interest in the assignment of the fourth 3G licence.

This consultation was launched by ARCEP in order to prepare ways of reusing the 900 and 1800 MHz frequencies for 3G, which is necessary to extend the coverage of third-generation mobile networks beyond the current deployments in the 2 GHz band. In order to do this, players had to be questioned about their interest in the fourth 3G licence, which is still available, to determine whether three or four operators must be considered in the sharing plan of the 900 and 1800 MHz bands reused for 3G.

The assignment of a fourth 3G licence would bring about a major change in the mobile communications market by intensifying competition and stimulating the evolution of mobile communications services towards the third generation, to the benefit of consumers.

It is now up to the minister to launch the application process by publishing simultaneously the related financial conditions.