Free Mobile, Orange France sign national roaming agreement

News Wireless France 3 MRT 2011
Free Mobile, Orange France sign national roaming agreement
Free Mobile (Iliad) and Orange signed a national roaming agreement for their respective 2G networks in France, following several months of negotiations. Free Mobile and Orange have decided to extend this agreement to cover their 3G networks. This agreement will take effect once Free Mobile has deployed a network that offers coverage for 25 percent of the French population, giving it coverage over the remainder via Orange's base stations. Free Mobile plans to launch service at the start of 2012. Under the terms of its licence, Free Mobile has taken a commitment to deploy a network that offers coverage to at least 90 percent of the population by 2018. French telecommunications regulator Arcep made it a requirement for existing mobile operators to offer 2G roaming to the new entrant, but not for 3G. Free and Orange did not reveal the financial terms of their agreement. Les Echos estimates that the contract is worth several million euros to Orange in 2012 and more than EUR 1 billion over five years.

Categories:

Mobile

Companies:

Free,  Iliad,  Orange Business France,  Free Mobile

Countries:

France

Tags:

Voice services, GPRS, 3G, Messaging, Cooperations & alliances, GSM - 2G, Internet Access, HSPA, Licences & sales agreement

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