French govt considers dropping 3G auction
The French government is considering scrapping an auction for the country's last remaining third generation (3G) mobile licence, a government source close to the matter said on Monday.
Cancelling the auction would mean that incumbents Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom would remain unchallenged in the high-end market for 3G mobile communications services in France.
Asked if the government was instead considering splitting up the licence's available 3G mobile frequencies into lots and selling them to the incumbents, the source said: "It is one of the options being considered."
However, a spokeswoman for the French prime minister's office on Monday stressed that no decision had been taken yet.
The French telecoms regulator Arcep declined to comment.
Last year, the French government rejected as too low a bid for the 3G licence by French broadband operator Iliad (ILD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) which had asked for the upfront fee of 619 million euros ($973.4 million) to be divided into several deferred instalments.
The government was expected to renew calls for bids this year, and both Iliad and the French cable operator Numericable have repeatedly expressed interest in it.
Speculation that the auction was going to be scrapped lifted French telecoms shares on Friday.
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