Digicel-Iliad network sharing deal gets regulatory clearance

News Wireless Caribbean 14 APR 2021
Digicel-Iliad network sharing deal gets regulatory clearance

France’s telecom authority said that it completed an in-depth investigation into the amended contract agreed in December by Digicel and Iliad's subsidiary Free Caraibe, concluding that no regulatory intervention is necessary at this stage. The two partners announced the creation of joint venture company Madiacom in mid-2020, which will operate a shared radio access network (RAN) in the overseas territories of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthelemy, Saint-Martin and French Guiana.

Digicel and Iliad have also shared with Arcep a roadmap for improving mobile coverage and quality of service across their joint footprint. This includes, for example, the deployment of new backhaul infrastructure in the ‘Haut Maroni’ area, and the installation of at least two additional sites on the RN2 road in French Guiana by the end of 2022. Overall, the joint venture is currently targeting more than 500 cell sites by 2025, of which a large proportion equipped with fibre links. 


Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

Digicel,  Iliad,  Arcep

Regions:

Caribbean

Tags:

3G, Regulations, Wireless, Wholesale, Consumer, Enterprise, 4G - LTE

Related Articles

FRANCE 7 JUL 2022

French network operators add nearly 640 5G cell sites in June

The number of 5G cell sites emitting a signal across mainland France rose by 638 during June to reach 25,587 as of 01 July (+396 in May), according to spectrum agency ANFR. Antennas in or ready for commercial service made up 74 percent of the infrastructure sites (34,469) on which network operators have already obtained permits to roll out 5G. Among the three bands currently used for 5G in mainland France, 700 MHz frequencies remained in the lead with 15,001 sites in or ready for service, all within Free Mo

CARIBBEAN 29 JUN 2022

Altice's Outremer Telecom fails to challenge Arcep's decision on Digicel-Iliad network sharing deal

France's supreme court (Conseil d'Etat) has dismissed an appeal by Altice subsidiary Outremer Telecom aiming to overturn a regulatory decision on the network sharing deal of rivals Digicel and Iliad. Outremer Telecom, which operates under the SFR brand, lodged the appeal after telecom authority Arcep concluded that no regulatory intervention was necessary over the amended contract agreed in December 2020 by Digicel and Iliad's Free Caraibe. This revised agreement covered the terms of their shared radio acce

CARIBBEAN 18 MEI 2022

Iliad's Free Caraibe makes market debut with EUR 10 tariff

Iliad subsidiary Free Caraibe has announced its long-awaited commercial launch in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthelemy and Saint Martin. It is currently marketing two postpaid plans, both without any minimum contract period. Priced at EUR 9.99 per month, the "Forfait Free Caraibe" tariff offers an unlimited call/text allowance, coupled with 120 GB of LTE data available across the operator's footprint (of which 25 GB available when roaming in 40 international destinations). The entry-level

CARIBBEAN 30 MRT 2022

Orange maintains lead in nPerf's 2021 mobile internet study across French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique

Orange kept the title of best mobile internet provider in French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the annual study compiled by internet speed test site nPerf, based on the whole of 2021. This latest benchmark shows that mobile networks failed to deliver the improvements in performance experienced by end-users in other markets. In particular, nPerf highlighted that Digicel saw its overall score decline significantly compared with 2020, ranking third across French Guiana, Guadeloupe and Martinique, behind

CARIBBEAN 17 DEC 2021

Digicel using Alepo platform for fibre upgrade

Digicel announced an agreement to use Alepo's AAA platform for an upgrade to its FTTx network across the Caribbean. In a statement, Digicel said its legacy cloud platforms had reached full physical capacity due to the surge in demand for fibre broadband and rapidly growing subscriber bases on many island markets.

CARIBBEAN 17 SEP 2021

Sandvine lands Digicel network intelligence contract

Sandvine said it has been awarded a "multimillion-dollar" order to provide cloud-based application and network intelligence solutions to Caribbean-focused operator Digicel. Under the deal, Digicel will move to Sandvine's Active Network Intelligence (ANI) Portal as part of its commitment to deliver the best possible service across 32 markets in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific.

EUROPE 16 APR 2021

Iliad loses chief network officer and deputy CEO Rani Assaf, announces promotions

Iliad announced two promotions within its management team, following the resignation of Rani Assaf from his roles as chief network officer and deputy CEO. One of the creators of the first Freebox, Assaf will leave the group at the end of June to devote his time to new projects. Alexandre Cassen will join the executive committee as chief network officer, while Nicolas Jaeger will replace Assaf as deputy CEO, a position also held by Antoine Levavasseur. 

FRANCE 16 APR 2021

Bollore Telecom asks Arcep to grant technological neutrality to 3.5 GHz spectrum holding

French telecom authority Arcep has opened a public consultation to seek views on a request from Bollore Telecom, with regard to authorised use of spectrum in the 3.4-3.5 GHz band (3420-3490 MHz). The regulator explained that the 22 spectrum licences held by Bollore Telecom are all restricted to the provision of fixed internet access services (point to multipoint wireless local loop). It is now considering a request for removing this restriction, which would enable the licence holder to benefit from the prin

FRANCE 15 MRT 2021

Orange and SFR top mobile internet performance study in French overseas territories

French telecom authority Arcep has published its latest annual report on mobile quality of service in the French overseas territories, highlighting an improvement in the call performance metric from testing carried out between September and December 2020. The progression is less clear cut when looking at the mobile internet indicators, however, following the advances in data speeds achieved during 2019.

CARIBBEAN 23 DEC 2020

Arcep orders Free Caraibe to comply with spectrum licence obligations

France's telecom authority Arcep has published a decision that finds Iliad subsidiary Free Caraibe in breach of the conditions attached to the operator's spectrum licence covering five overseas territories (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthelemy, and Saint-Martin). The regulator said that the company has failed to comply with the licence coverage obligations, which required a significant proportion of the population to have access to the operator's LTE network by November 2018 (ranging from

FRANCE 21 DEC 2020

Arcep receives amendment to Digicel-Iliad network sharing deal

Telecom authority Arcep said that the mobile network sharing agreement between Digicel and Iliad's subsidiary Free Caraibe, announced earlier this year, has been amended by the two partners with clarifications in three main areas. The changes concern the implementation of a transition period, the geographical scope for the cross-sharing of 800 MHz and 900 MHz spectrum, and a project to invest in improved mobile coverage along the RN2 roadway in French Guiana. As part of its ongoing examination of the networ

CARIBBEAN 2 JUN 2020

Iliad confirms JV with Digicel for mobile coverage in French overseas territories

Iliad's subsidiary Free and Digicel have announced the creation of a joint venture company, confirming recent press reports. The partnership supports their common objective of increasing the number of mobile cell sites in the French Antilles (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthelemy and Saint-Martin) and in French Guiana. The two groups said that the JV has the long-term ambition to invest in one of the largest telecom infrastructure networks in the region. Free and Digicel will be fully independent from a

Just In

19 DEC 16:42

SLT-Mobitel launches 5G network in Sri Lanka

19 DEC 16:19

Dialog Axiata launches 5G network, connects 1.5 million subscribers

19 DEC 15:56

UK govt to ban AI-enabled nudification apps to protect women, girls

19 DEC 15:42

3 UK launches last-minute Christmas sale

Commentary

13:56

Video market set for slower growth ahead

11:38

Netflix buys Warner Bros to deepen content catalogue

11:11

KPN's mixed performance in Q3 raises questions for strategy day

15:26

Stock markets breaking records but what happened to Odido's IPO plans?

Background

01:04

The week in telecom: Wi-Fi bolt-ons take off to boost broadband growth, video market works on consolidation

01:39

The week in telecom: Netflix wins bidding for Warner Bros, Apple poaches new execs, Samsung debuts trifold

13:51

Proximus vs. Telenet: Proximus performs better in Q3 while Telenet uses up cash

14:16

Proximus Domestic still struggling with low margins

Complete profile

Before downloading the whitepaper, we would like to ask you to complete your profile with company and position. After confirming you will receive the white paper.