French Industry Minister, Eric Besson has confirmed that France hopes to raise approximately US$2.7 billion (Eur2 billion) from the sale of LTE licenses in 2011.
Besson said “We are relatively confident,” because “These [800Mhz] frequencies are of very, very high quality.”
French Telecom has already begun testing LTE technology. Recently, the regulator has extended the permissions for LTE trials to test both 800Mhz and 2.6Ghz networks.
Besson also said that the state will probably call for bids by the end of January.
In addition, Besson estimated that “The frequencies will be sold in four lots: two of 10 megahertz and two of five megahertz.” Besson said that within 15 years at least 2 networks will give service to 99% of the French People.
