The French regulator approved a two-year extension, which will allow Free Mobile to roam on Orange’s network until 2022.
A long-standing agreement to increase competition: In France, Free Mobile has been relying on nationwide roaming on Orange’s 2G and 3G network since 2011. The agreement was designed to allow a fourth operator in the mobile market while giving it time to build its own infrastructure. In January 2016, ARCEP requested the two parties to set out a timetable to phase out the agreement. Eventually, the two MNOs agreed to terminate it by the end of 2020.
Free needs two more years of roaming: In February 2020, ARCEP received an amendment to the deal, which extends the sunset period for Free Mobile’s access to nationwide roaming on Orange’s 2G and 3G networks up to 31 December 2022. The agreement includes incentives to reduce the number of Free customers using Orange’s network, and limits the upload and download speeds to 384Kbps for 2021 and 2022. The extension responds to a request from Free, which has been unable to catch up with the market standard of network coverage despite “very proactive rollouts”, and needs to have 2G coverage on par with that of other MNOs (something it is unable to replicate quickly due to a lack of spectrum, and due to other operators’ use of 2G as a back-up technology under certain circumstances).
ARCEP approved the extension: On 23 October 2020, ARCEP gave the green light to the deal being extended. The regulator verified that there is a steady decrease in the volume of Free Mobile communications relayed via 2G or 3G roaming, and that Free is continuing to invest in its own 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. ARCEP found no risks for competition arising from the contract being extended, and saw no reason to require further amendments to the contract.
