France Telecom will now be able to sell quad-play service packages as French regulator Autorite de la Concurrence lifted a previous ban on the former telecom monopoly. Regulators placed the restriction on France Telecom 10 years ago after the former state-run service provider monopoly was privatized to encourage competition.
With the revised rules in place, France Telecom will be able to compete with SFR and Bouygues Telecom, which already offer quad-play bundles. Set to launch its quad-play offerings by mid-August, the relaxed rules, according to an article in TeleGeography, will also allow France Telecom to cross-market by combining customer databases.
Of course, the new ruling isn't without the usual controversy between the incumbent carrier and its competitors. Competitive carriers are concerned that the because the regulator isn't requiring the incumbent's DSL speed acceleration program for rural areas to be included in the country's own broadband program, France Telecom will continue to have the upper hand with local authorities to offer services in those areas.
For more:
- see this story
- Telecompaper has this perspective
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