French Government, Telco Federation Defend Unlimited Web Deals
August 22 2011 - 6:03AM
Dow Jones News
French telecommunications companies won't stop providing
packages that offer unlimited access to high-speed fixed-line
Internet, France's industry minister and the country's telecoms
federation said Monday, after website Omni reported that such moves
were being considered.
"It is out of the question that unlimited Internet will end,"
Yves Le Mouel, head of the Federation Francaise des Telecoms, which
comprises France's largest operators France Telecom SA (FTE),
Vivendi SA's (VIV.FR) SFR and Bouygues SA's (EN.FR) telecom unit,
told Dow Jones Newswires. Alternative operator Iliad SA (ILD.FR)
and Numericable aren't members of the federation.
Industry Minister Eric Besson also said "the government isn't
considering any restriction to Internet access."
However, some operators could modify their offers to either
impose caps for very heavy users or have them pay more. "It's not
improbable that operators will increasingly differentiate their
offers... some may have specific offers for very heavy web users,"
Le Mouel said, adding that any changes would only affect a tiny
number of households.
In France, operators currently offer unlimited access to
high-speed Internet to all users for the same fee. The "very heavy
users" in question are those 5% to 10% of consumers that currently
use up some 80% of bandwidth, according to Le Mouel.
Le Mouel said the telecoms federation at the end of July sent a
working document to French operators, on the request of telecoms
regulator Arcep, aimed at making operators' offers more transparent
amid exploding web traffic.
Operators will meet again in September to discuss this document.
"We will try to find a consensus and get all operators to adopt the
same behavior," Le Mouel said. "Nothing has been decided yet."
-By Ruth Bender, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1754;
ruth.bender@dowjones.com
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