?500 Million Fine For French Networks

andy · 08-12-2005, 04:42

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/12/01/french_fines/

Quote:

France's competition commission (the Conseil de la Concurrence) ruled that the three had acted against the best interests of consumers and the economy by sharing confidential information and divvying up the market for themselves.

The Conseil said this collusion had been going on between 1997 and 2003.

Orange has been fined ?256m (?174m), SFR ?220m (?150m) and Bouygues Telecom ?58m (?40m).

Orange are sulking
http://www.orange.fr/content/ge/high/rubri...2B%26type%3D40#

http://www.orange.fr/content/ge/high/rubri...nge_repond.html

Prix : le niveau de prix pour des consommations moyennes en t?l?phonie mobile est plus faible en France que dans les principaux pays europ?ens, y compris au Royaume-Uni ;
Prices are lower in France than in principal European countries, including UK ...

... umm, not for prepaid I think - France is more than double

Orange payg tariff Mobicarte -
Classique ?0.55 per min all calls
Soir et weekend ?0.35 off-peak, ?0.65 peak

Orange payg in UK 15p per minute

This is the bit that interests me -

Il devrait y avoir 13 marques de t?l?phonie mobile ? No?l !
There should be 13 brands by Christmas

... well there should be more competition then - they could take a look at Germany

snaimon · 08-12-2005, 21:00

At your Orange link the company states that there are already 11 providers in France. Thus France is in a small group of European countries with many, many providers.

Point being THERE IS ALREADY MUCH COMPETITION.

Andy, I can't judge fairly as I know very little about the French market. I guess my first question would be are there really 11 providers in France as claimed by Orange? This site shows 3 major providers (O, SFR, BT) and 2 virtual (NJR and Omer). So where is the disconnect? Voice rates at 55 e-cents are IMHO on the VERY high side, although there are with O and SFR some possibly better, but LIMITED add-on options.

Stan

andy · 08-12-2005, 21:43

I don't know of others - perhaps there are other regional ones like Breizh, or supermarket chains - that seems popular elsewhere

perhaps there are the beginnings of inclusive bundles for prepaid - SFR has a ?5 a month subscription, and all calls at fixed tariff - seems fairly new ...

	(#2)
snaimon (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Specialist Posts: 898 Join Date: 17 Mar 2004 Location: Richmond, VA USA Country:	08-12-2005, 21:00 At your Orange link the company states that there are already 11 providers in France. Thus France is in a small group of European countries with many, many providers. Point being THERE IS ALREADY MUCH COMPETITION. Andy, I can't judge fairly as I know very little about the French market. I guess my first question would be are there really 11 providers in France as claimed by Orange? This site shows 3 major providers (O, SFR, BT) and 2 virtual (NJR and Omer). So where is the disconnect? Voice rates at 55 e-cents are IMHO on the VERY high side, although there are with O and SFR some possibly better, but LIMITED add-on options. Stan Phones: DASH V3 (3) Service: US T-MO post paid (2) - US T-MO prepaid (2) - UM+ - TravelSIM DE SIMYO - DE SUNSIM T-Mobile DE Calling Cards: Onesuite Enjoyprepaid AT&T MCI Mobivox

	(#3)
andy (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Prophet Posts: 2,128 Join Date: 10 Dec 2004 Country:	08-12-2005, 21:43 I don't know of others - perhaps there are other regional ones like Breizh, or supermarket chains - that seems popular elsewhere perhaps there are the beginnings of inclusive bundles for prepaid - SFR has a ?5 a month subscription, and all calls at fixed tariff - seems fairly new ...