Virgin Mobile hostile to fourth French mobile licence

MVNO says French regulator would be better off encouraging greater competition among existing players, local press reports.

Virgin Mobile, a French virtual mobile phone operator, would be hostile to any French government decision to put a fourth mobile phone license up for grabs and says the industry regulator Arcep would be better advised to encourage greater competition among existing operators, reports La Tribune, quoting Virgin Mobile chief executive Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux.
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Virgin Mobile is controlled by Virgin Group PLC and Carphone Warehouse Group PLC and is the leading French virtual mobile phone operator. Virtual operators rent network capacity from the country’s three big carriers: France Telecom SA’s Orange brand, Bouygues SA’s Bouygues Telecom, and Vivendi SA’s SFR.

Arcep is examining three possibilities: awarding all the available frequencies to one new entrant; dividing the frequencies into several packages, some of which would be reserved for new entrants; or dividing the frequencies into several packages open to all operators. A decision by the government is expected in the autumn.