France to Probe Mobile Upstart

The French government asked the country's antitrust authority to study whether France's new cut-rate mobile-phone operator, Free Mobile, is benefiting from a sweetheart roaming agreement, potentially giving ammunition to incumbent companies that have argued the deal is forcing them to cut jobs.

France's independent competition watchdog said that it will give an opinion by the end of February on whether Iliad SA's Free Mobile, France's fourth mobile-phone operator, would gain a "lasting advantage" over competitors if it extends its roaming agreement with partly state-owned France Télécom SA, the country's largest mobile-phone operator by subscribers. The government also asked the authority to weigh in on whether France's mobile operators can pool resources to roll out shared wireless networks in rural areas, as well as whether the operators can share wireless networks in urban areas "without harming competition, jobs and investment." The government request could signal a shift in French telecommunications and competition policy.