By Sam Schechner
PARIS--France's antitrust authority Monday gave the green light
to cellphone operators sharing some parts of their networks, a
decision that could set off dealmaking among the country's four
main phone operators as they reel from a brutal price war.
France's independent competition watchdog, the Autorite de la
Concurrence, said Monday that it would be open to allowing
cellphone operators to share passive cellphone towers, and also
full cellular networks in rural areas.
The authority didn't explicitly rule out the sharing of active
network equipment, such as so-called "base stations" in urban
areas, but said that it would be vigilant about maintaining
competition before allowing such deals.
"It's a path that we are opening," said Bruno Lasserre, chairman
of the antitrust body. "But it seems completely compatible with
maintaining competition in network infrastructure."
The ruling Monday signals a shift in French telecommunications
and competition policy. In recent years, independent agencies, such
as France's telecom regulator, Arcep, have pushed for more
competition--including granting Iliad SA (ILD.FR) the country's
fourth mobile-phone license--in order to lower costs for consumers.
But now, under a new socialist government, some argue that low
prices are hurting a French industrial base that is already reeling
from a sputtering economy.
France's phone operators have been hit particularly hard by
competition, following the launch just over a year ago of Iliad's
Free Mobile, which has so far won nearly 8% of the market with
prices as low as 2 euros ($2.6) per month. All of the operators
have themselves slashed prices to keep up, leading to profit
declines and proposed job cuts at Vivendi SA's (VIV.FR) SFR and
Bouygues SA's (EN.FR) Bouygues Telecoms.
Write to Sam Schechner at sam.schechner@wsj.com
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