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Free Mobile has Filed an Application for the 4th 3G Mobile Telecommunication Licence
www.iliad.fr

French broadband operator Iliad has submitted its application with the country’s telecoms regulator (ARCEP) for France’s fourth UMTS licence. The company is so far the only confirmed bidder for the licence. Iliad had previously attempted to bid for a 3G licence in 2007. The auction is for 5MHz of 2.1 GHz spectrum, with the minimum price for the licence set at EUR240 million. The winner will be required to roll out 3G services to 25% of the population within two years.

Free Mobile, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iliad Group, filed an application on 28 October 2009 with ARCEP for the allocation of the fourth 3G mobile telecommunication licence in France.

Iliad Group wishes to be granted a mobile telecommunication licence to speed up the expansion of mobile multimedia technologies and meet strong consumer demand for more user-friendly, cheaper and more innovative offerings.

If selected, the Free Mobile project will give a boost to the French mobile technology market: it will trigger significant capital expenditure in France from 2010 and lead to significant job creation.

About Iliad

The Iliad Group is a major player in the French telecommunications and Internet access market via Free and Alice (4,371,000 ADSL subscribers as of 30 June 2009), Onetel and Iliad Télécom (fixed telephony providers) and IFW (Wimax). The Iliad Group is listed on Euronext Paris under the ticker ILD.