33
Annual Report -
2013
-
Vivendi
Group Profile |
Businesses
| Litigation | Risk Factors
1
SFR
2.5.6.
Regulatory Environment
The 2013 regulatory environment was marked by change.
In an opinion issued on March 11, 2013, the French Competition
Authority defined the conditions for collaboration between mobile
networks and called for the gradual and systematic elimination of
domestic roaming, from which Free Mobile benefits.
In a decision dated March 14, 2013, Arcep authorized Bouygues Telecom
to implement 4G in the 1800 MHz frequency starting October 1, 2013.
SFR and Orange France also have the opportunity to request, at any
time, that authorizations in the 1,800 MHz frequency be extended to 4G.
In a favorable opinion issued on April 26, 2013, the Committee of copper
experts (an independent committee comprising various operators and
equipment suppliers) authorized the introduction of VDSL2 by direct
distribution on Orange France’s copper wire local loop network.
In a decision dated July 5, 2013, the Constitutional Council declared the
legal provisions of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code,
which provides for Arcep’s sanctioning authority against operators, to
be a violation of the Constitution, and thus revoked these provisions.
The government will propose a new legislative procedure consistent
with the Constitution to the French Parliament in the first half of 2014.
In a decree dated December 3, 2013, the government specified the
information to be given to consumers when subscribing to Internet
access service in fixed-line environments, provided for operators to
furnish educational information on the technical functioning of these
services, and laid down a structure for the advertising of commercial
offerings of Internet access providers.
2.5.7.
Piracy
SFR is seeking the best solutions to the problems posed by piracy, ones
that respect the rights and obligations of everyone. In particular, the
operator applies the Hadopi law, which promotes the distribution and
protection of creative works on the Internet. SFR has always sought
to maximize development of its legal offering, and has made many
innovations in the market to offer its customers a true alternative to
piracy.
It set up a video rental platform for its ADSL customers, and in 2013 it
entered into a partnership with Napster, a well-known music streaming
service.
2.5.8.
Competition
The domestic market shares for mobile services break down as follows:
35.2% for Orange France, 14.5% for Bouygues Telecom, 10.5% for Free
and 12% for MVNOs and other operators, compared to 27.8% for SFR
(sources: Arcep and operator publications).
At year-end 2013, the market shares for high-speed and very high-speed
broadband broke down as follows: 40.6% for Orange France, 22.6% for
Iliad, 8.1% for Bouygues Telecom and 7.6% for other Internet access
providers, compared to 21.1% for SFR (sources: Arcep and operator
publications).
2.5.9.
Research and Development
In 2013, SFR’s research and development efforts were based around
the following three main concepts:
quality of customer service (fixed-line and mobile);
service platforms and user-friendly services; and
the exploration of new telecommunications technologies in
the areas of radio (4G, small-cell networks), high-speed access
(fiber access technology simplifying the FTTdp customer connection,
new VDSL2 typologies; and enhanced TV set-top box services), core
network (NFV: platform virtualization, and SDN: network intelligence
consolidation) and terminals, through studies and/or experiments
carried out on pilot platforms.
