Orange France and SFR have won 4.8 MHz and 5 MHz blocks of 3G mobile frequencies, respectively, in an auction that generated EUR 600 million in revenues for the state and commitments to improve hosting conditions for MVNOs. Following the assignment of 5 MHz of spectrum with the fourth 3G licence to Free Mobile on 12 January, telecommunications regulator Arcep was left with a 5 MHz block and a 4.8 MHz block of spectrum still available in the 2.1 GHz frequency band. The application procedure for this remaining spectrum was issued on 25 February. Three bids were submitted on 11 May by Free Mobile, Orange France and SFR. The regulator gave no information on the size of Free's bid, but stated that SFR submitted a winning bid of EUR 300 million for the 5 MHz block and chose commitment level 1 for hosting MVNOs. This commitment requires MNOs to "grant all reasonable demands for access to their network", to provide hosting conditions that "would not unjustifiably impede the goal of achieving competition in the wholesale market for hosting MVNOs or MVNOs' commercial autonomy in the retail market", and to "offer MVNOs that are already hosted on their networks the option of amending the terms of their contracts as soon as possible, to allow them to benefit from these new commitments". Orange France submitted a winning bid of EUR 282.1 million for the 4.8 MHz block and also chose commitment level 1 for hosting MVNOs. These two blocks have therefore been awarded for the total sum of EUR 582.1 million, which, when added to the EUR 240 million that Free Mobile paid for its block of 5 MHz in January, comes to a total of more than EUR 820 million. In the coming weeks, Arcep will be allocating the corresponding spectrum to the two operators. Once this has occurred, the 2.1 GHz frequency band will be shared by the four operators. SFR has 19.8 MHz, Orange 19.6 MHz, Bouygues Telecom 14.8 MHz and Free Mobile 5 MHz. Once can appreciate the growth in the value of 3G spectrum by recalling that Arcep sold three UMTS licences with around 15 MHz for EUR 619 million each in 2003.
