Orion Berg

By decision of April 26, 2022, the Conseil d’Etat annulled Article 18 of the decision no. 2020-1446 of December 15, 2020 of the French Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority (the "ARCEP") relating to the market for the "wholesale supply of local access at a fixed location", known as (...)

The French regulatory authority for electronic communications, posts and press distribution ["ARCEP"] had initiated in May 2021 a consultation on the regulation of the upstream wholesale market for digital terrestrial television broadcasting services ["DTT"]. Following this consultation and (...)

In a decision dated December 15, 2021 (CE, December 15, 2021, n° 448067 and 448101), the Conseil d’Etat rejected the appeals of Bouygues Telecom and SFR against the decision of the French regulatory authority for electronic communications, posts and press distribution [hereinafter the "ARCEP"] (...)

The Competition Authority [the "Authority"] referred to the Commission in January 2020 for an opinion on the competition situation in the "new technologies sector applied to payment activities". The Authority has just published its opinion in which it notes the regulatory and technological (...)

[In accordance with Article L36-7 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code ["CPCE"], the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority (ARCEP)] establishes the national numbering plan and ensures that numbering resources are used correctly. In practice, it is the numbering plan (...)

The French regulatory authority for electronic communications, postal services and press distribution (the "ARCEP") has defined a specific regulatory framework to ensure the efficient rollout of very high speed fiber optic networks ("FttH") throughout France. To this end, the regulatory (...)

The Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques, des postes et de la distribution de la presse ["ARCEP"] clarifies, as the dispute settlement procedures progress, the regulatory framework relating to the deployment of fiber optic networks ["FttH"] on the national territory and the (...)

The Competition Authority (the "Authority") issued an opinion on 15 September 2020 on the draft decisions concerning the regulation of the fixed broadband and very high-speed broadband markets. This opinion follows the referral to the Autorité de régulation des communications de régulation des (...)

The French regulatory authority for electronic communications, postal services and press [distribution, ARCEP], has submitted for public consultation its proposed changes to the regulation of the fixed broadband and very high-speed electronic communications markets for the period 2020-2023. In (...)

Decision No. 20-D-02 of the Competition [Authority the Authority] rejected the complaint of the Association of Alternative [Telecommunications Operators AOTA], which sought the conviction of Orange for abusing its dominant position by refusing its members the implementation of an activated (...)

During the second half of 2019, the French regulatory authority for electronic communications, postal services and press distribution ("ARCEP") carried out a market consultation on the terms and conditions for allocating 5G frequencies in the 3.4 - 3.8 GHz band (Orion Berg, Alexandre Martin, (...)

At the end of 2018, the Commission de la régulation de l’énergie ("CRE") announced that the demand for regulated access to historical nuclear electricity ("ARENH") for the year 2019 exceeded the legal ceiling of 100 TWh/year, i.e. approximately 25% of French nuclear power generation. Access to (...)

The Member States of the European Union (the "EU") had committed, during the Estonian Presidency of the EU, to deploying the fifth generation of mobile technology (the "5G") in the first conurbations in 2020. 5G is designed to multiply current data rates and to meet the ever-increasing demand (...)

Following the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority (Arcep) and the Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL), the Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Œuvres et la Protection des Droits sur Internet (Hadopi) and the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (CSA) are in (...)

The Competition Authority (the "Authority") issued two opinions concerning the regulation of the electricity market. In its opinion of 21 January 2019, the Authority was consulted by the Government on a draft decree amending the ENHRA. In its opinion of 25 March 2019, the Authority took up (...)

The Competition Authority has been requested by the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education of the National Assembly to provide input to the legislative work on the draft law on audiovisual reform. The Authority also consulted the Arcep, which, among other things, formulated courses of (...)

The Mégalis Bretagne joint association (made up of the Brittany region, its four departments and 59 public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation) is responsible for bringing very high speed broadband via fibre optics to all Breton buildings and residences by 2030 through the (...)

On 6 December 2018, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (hereinafter "BEREC") adopted, after consultation with interested parties, an opinion on the application of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the Parliament and of the Council laying down measures regarding access to (...)

On 26 November 2018, the French Energy Regulatory Commission (hereinafter the "CRE") published a report on the challenges of developing electric vehicles for electric grids. This report presents the initial results of the work and consultations with interested parties carried out by CRE. The (...)

EU Regulation 1227/2011, known as the REMIT Regulation, organises the supervision of wholesale electricity and gas markets by national regulatory authorities in the European Union. In this framework, national regulatory authorities have the power to investigate and sanction market abuse, (...)

In preparation for the next draft law on audiovisual reform, the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (hereinafter "Arcep") has been asked for its opinion by the Competition Authority, which has been referred to it by the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education of (...)

Article L. 33-13 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code (CPCE) stipulates that the minister in charge of electronic communications may accept, after obtaining the opinion of the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (Arcep/Authority), commitments (...)

Arcep’s decision comes in the context of the deployment of fibre optic networks. French telecom operators have mainly opted to deploy these networks down to the subscriber (Fiber to the Home - FttH). The legislator has established the principle of mutualisation of the terminal part of the (...)

Interconnection refers to the connection of different telecommunications networks to each other in order to ensure interoperability of services, i.e. to enable users of one operator to communicate with users of a third operator or to access services provided by a third operator. This (...)

The US Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), the US telecoms regulator, decided on 14 December 2017, by three votes to two, to repeal the net neutrality regulation it had adopted in 2015. The net neutrality regulation adopted in the United States in 2015 As early as 2005, the FCC had (...)

In four decisions dated 14 December 2017 (No. 2017-1347, No. 2017-1348, No. 2017-1349 and No. 2017-1488), ARCEP set the framework for ex-ante regulation of the wholesale broadband and fixed very high-speed broadband markets for the next three years. These decisions are important for the (...)

ARCEP’s decision to dismiss the case on 26 July is another illustration of the priority now given by the regulator to regulation "through transparency and information" (see also the recent publication of new mobile coverage maps with four levels of assessment, as well as the monitoring carried (...)

Law No. 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 for growth, activity and equal economic opportunities entrusted the regulation of motorway toll rates to the Regulatory Authority for Rail and Road Activities ("Arafer"). In particular, the Arafer must be consulted, before signature, on any draft amendment to (...)

The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications ("BEREC") announced on 8 March 2017 the launch of a public consultation on its strategy for the period "2018-2020". The aim of this public consultation is to enable BEREC to review its current strategy to ensure that its action (...)

On 3 February 2017, the Commission de Régulation de l’Energie (hereinafter "CRE") published its tenth monitoring report on "Compliance with the codes of good conduct and independence of electricity and natural gas network operators in 2015 and 2016". This tenth edition of the CRE report gives (...)

In 2015, the French telecommunications regulator, the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (hereinafter "ARCEP") "identified the Internet of Things as one of the priority projects of its strategic review". In order to anticipate the regulatory issues raised by (...)

According to Article 5(3) of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 laying down measures on open Internet access (hereinafter the ’Regulation’), ’no later than 30 August 2016, in order to contribute to the consistent application of this (...)

Since August 2015, the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes ("ARCEP") has the power to require mobile network operators to modify their network sharing contracts (roaming, network sharing, etc.), where this is necessary to achieve regulatory objectives. Many (...)

In July 2015, the Auvergne Region and the Rhône-Alpes Region, which since 1 January 2016 has formed a single Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region ("the Region"), referred a dispute with SNCF Réseau concerning the implementation of the procedure for allocating train path capacity to the Autorité de (...)

Over the past two years, both the United States and the European Union have attempted to provide a regulatory solution to the net neutrality issue with the adoption by the US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), of a regulation on February 26, 2015 (the "FCC Regulation"), (...)

By two decisions of 17 December 2015, the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (hereinafter "CSA") rejected the requests for approval of changes to the financing arrangements for the television channels "Planète +" (Canal Plus Group) and "Paris Première" (Métropole Télévision Group, hereinafter (...)

Following the agreement reached between the three EU institutions on 30 June 2015, formally adopted by the Council on 1 October 2015 and by the European Parliament on 27 October 2015, Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down measures on access to an (...)

In two judgments, 379579 and 384231 of October 9, 2015, the Conseil d’État returned to the conditions for sharing mobile networks and, in particular, to the execution of the national roaming contract entered into between Free Mobile ("Free") and Orange. On the one hand, it confirms that the (...)

On 26 September 2015, the Government launched an online public consultation on its "Digital Republic Bill" (hereinafter the "Bill"). This public discussion will enable participants, before the Bill is sent to the Council of State and adopted by the Council of Ministers, to "give their opinion (...)

Since its establishment in 2010, the Rail Regulatory Authority (hereinafter "ARAF") has been supporting the rail sector in its gradual opening up to competition. ARAF, whose mission is to contribute to the proper functioning of the public service and competitive activities for the benefit of (...)

On June 23, 2015, the Commission de Régulation de l’Energie (hereinafter "CRE") published a deliberation on the responses provided by Électricité Réseau Distribution France (hereinafter "ERDF"), Gaz Réseau Distribution France (hereinafter "GRDF") and their parent companies (respectively EDF (...)

In a judgment handed down on 12 May 2015, the Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation dismissed Cogent’s appeal against the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal dismissing its application to annul the decision of the French Competition Authority ("the Authority") relating to practices (...)

Following the renewal of the European Commission in November 2014, its President Jean-Claude Juncker made the creation of a digital single market one of his ten priorities, stressing that such an achievement could generate up to €250 billion of additional growth in Europe during the mandate of (...)

RCE, 25 Feb. 2015, Communication deliberation on the development of smart grids On 25 February 2015, the Commission de régulation de l’énergie (hereinafter "CRE") published a deliberation on the development of smart grids (Smart grids, incorporating functionalities from new information and (...)

CJEU, 22 Jan. 2015, T-Mobile Austria, Case C-282/13 In its judgment C-282/13 of 22 January 2015, the Court clarified, in response to a question referred for a preliminary ruling, the rights of competing undertakings in the event of a procedure for the transfer of telecommunications (...)

On 9 October 2014, the European Commission (hereinafter "the Commission") adopted a new Recommendation on relevant product and service markets within the electronic communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation (hereinafter "the Recommendation"). This Recommendation, which is (...)

Following a complaint filed by beIN Sports, accompanied by a request for precautionary measures, the French Competition Authority ordered, by decision no. 14-MC-01 of July 30, 2014, the suspension of the agreement entered into on January 14, 2014 by which the French National Rugby League (LNR) (...)

On May 27, 2014, ARCEP announced the opening of five administrative investigations into the deployment of mobile networks and the quality of operators’ fixed-line services. Indeed, among the missions entrusted to it under Article L. 36-7 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code (...)

A new episode in the gas tariff schedule: the Council of State has, once again, cancelled the regulated tariffs for the sale of natural gas set by two decrees dated 15 April 2013. On December 20, 2013, the French Competition Authority ("Authority") published an opinion on a draft decree (...)

Noting that interconnection and data transmission services were at the heart of the technical operation of the Internet, ARCEP set up a system in 2012 to "monitor" the markets concerned, providing for the collection of data from players (ARCEP Decision no. 2012-0366 of March 29, 2012 on the (...)

In its decision no. 2014-0192 of February 13, 2014, ARCEP ruled on a request for settlement of a dispute submitted in December 2013 by Oméa Télécom. Oméa Télécom is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). Unlike the four network operators, MVNOs do not have their own network (...)

The French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) has just put online the 2013-2014 report on compliance with codes of conduct and the independence of network operators. In the press release published on January 6, 2014, the energy regulator underlines in particular the persistence of confusion (...)

The French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) has published its 2012 report on compliance with good conduct and independence of electricity and natural gas transmission (TSO) and distribution system operators (DSO). These regulated operators must manage their networks independently, without (...)

On 11 September 2013, the European Commission published a Communication on the Single Telecoms Market, a proposal for a Regulation laying down measures regarding the Single Telecoms Market and the completion of a Connected Continent and a Recommendation on non-discrimination obligations and (...)

The July 16, 2013 decision of the French Telecommunications and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARCEP) closes the administrative investigation into the technical and financial conditions governing the routing of Internet traffic between Free and Google. The President of the UFC-Que-Choisir (...)

The judgment of the Conseil d’État of July 10, 2013 relates to the actions for annulment on the grounds of misuse of powers brought by AT&T Global Network Services France SAS, AT&T Global Network Services LLC, Verizon France and MCI Communications Services against the decision of the (...)

Concordant Aut. opinion No. 13-A-08 of 11 March 2013 on conditions for sharing and roaming on mobile networks The matter was referred to the Authority for an opinion on 2 November 2012 by the Minister for Production Recovery and the Minister Delegate responsible for SMEs, Innovation and the (...)

In a ruling dated November 28, 2012, the Conseil d’État overturned a decision dated June 5, 2009 by the Minister of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Land Use Planning and the Minister of the Economy, Industry and Employment approving the tariffs for use of the public electricity (...)

Concord. 20.09.12, Decision No. 12-D-18 For the first time, the Competition Authority was called upon to rule in a contentious context on the delicate issue of interconnection relations between Internet players in a context of increasing and concentrated traffic. The context of the (...)

ARCEP, May 2012, public consultation on the draft report to the Parliament and the Government on Internet neutrality This draft report follows on from the 10 proposals for network- and Internet-neutrality published by ARCEP in September 2010, defining a global framework for action by market (...)

Cass. com, 30 May 2012, La Réunion Numérique, n° 11-14564 The Regional Council of La Réunion had entrusted the company La Réunion Numérique, under a public service delegation contract, with the provision of connection and extension services, as well as the commercial operation of a broadband (...)

As part of its monitoring of Free Mobile’s deployment obligations, ARCEP requested technical support from the French National Frequencies Agency (ANFR) from the Minister for Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy (ARCEP press release dated January 27, 2012 available on its website). On March (...)

CE, 28 March 2012, Direct Énergie and Syndicat intercommunal de la périphérie de Paris pour l’électricité et les réseaux de communication (SIPPEREC), n° 330548, 332639, 332643 The Council of State is postponing its decision and is seeking a technical opinion on certain methodological aspects (...)

CRE, Public consultation of 6 March 2012 on the structure of tariffs for the use of public electricity transmission and distribution networks The tariff for use of the public electricity transmission and distribution networks (hereinafter "TURPE") is the subject of a consultation by CRE for (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 2011-1168 of 11 October 2011 authorising Bouygues Telecom to use frequencies in the 2.6 GHz band in mainland France to establish and operate a mobile radio network open to the public. ARCEP, Dec. No. 2011-1169 of October 11, 2011 authorizing Free Mobile to use frequencies in (...)

Minister for Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy, Press release of 21 June 2011 The Minister has just launched a public consultation on the regulatory provisions intended to transpose the third telecoms package (Directives 2009/136/EC and 2009/140/EC of the European Parliament and of (...)

Order 2011-1012 of 24 August 2011 on electronic communications, JORF n°197 of 26 August 2011, p. 14473 On 24 August 2011, France transposed the European directives (Directives 2009/140/EC and 2009/136/EC of 25 November 2009) making up the third "telecoms package" by means of an order that is (...)

Study on the scope of the notion of electronic communications operator carried out by Hogan Lovells and Analysys Mason on behalf of ARCEP, June 2011 ARCEP has just put online a study aimed at clarifying the criteria for the status of electronic communications operator. It should be recalled (...)

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, 23 June 2011, NC Numericable SA and Numericable SAS v/ France Télécom SA, RG 2010/23690 The Paris Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal filed by the Numericable companies against ARCEP’s dispute settlement decision of November 4, 2010 (See our column in this review, (...)

Aut. conc. opinion No. 11-A-08 of 10 June 2011 relating to a request for an opinion from ARCEP on the wholesale markets for interurban interterritorial segment services relating to the territorial authorities of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy In its opinion of 10 June 2011, the French (...)

ARCEP, Dec. No. 2011-0596 of June 7, 2011 ruling on a request for settlement of a dispute between Towercast and TDF Towercast provides FM radio broadcast services to radio publishers. In order to be able to broadcast their programmes in FM mode, radio publishers must obtain a frequency (...)

CJEU, 17 February 2011, The Number (UK) and Conduit Enterprises, case C-16/10 The ECJ was referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning the amounts charged by British Telecommunications (BT) to two directory enquiry service and directory services providers for (...)

CJEU, 10 March 2011, Telefónica Móviles España, Case C-85/10 In the context of a preliminary ruling, the ECJ confirmed the conformity with Directive 97/13/EC liberalising the telecommunications sector of a tax on the reservation of frequencies in the public radio domain created by the (...)

UECG, 17 February 2011, FIFA v. Committee, Case T-385/07 GCEU, 17 February 2011, UEFA v. Committee, Case T-55/08 GCEU, 17 February 2011, FIFA v. Committee, case T-68/08 The Court of First Instance of the European Union has dismissed the actions brought by FIFA and UEFA challenging the (...)

CoRDiS of the CRE, dec. of January 21, 2011 on the dispute between Centrale solaire de Macouria 2 and Electricité de France (EDF) concerning the connection of a photovoltaic production facility to the public electricity distribution network CoRDiS rejected the requests made by the company (...)

Concordant Aut. opinion No. 11-A-02 of 20 January 2011 on the online gambling sector In this opinion, the Competition Authority examines the state of the online gambling sector after it was opened to competition by law n°2010-476 of May 12, 2010. It pronounces itself in favour of ex ante (...)

ARCEP, Dec. No. 2010-1312 of 14 December 2010 specifying the terms and conditions for access to very high-speed fibre optic electronic communication lines throughout France, except in very dense areas. ARCEP Decision no. 2010-1312 of December 14, 2010 sets the regulatory framework for the (...)

ARCEP, Dec. No. 2010-1179 of November 4, 2010 ruling on two requests for settlement of a dispute between France Telecom and NC Numericable and between France Telecom and Numericable SAS. ARCEP has the power to intervene in the event of a dispute between operators relating to agreements for (...)

BEREC, Response to the European Commission’s consultation on the open Internet and net neutrality in Europe, 30 September 2010 On 30 September 2010, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) published its response to the consultation launched by the European (...)

ARCEP, July 2010, Report to Parliament on the impact of Article 17 of the Act of January 3, 2008 on the development of competition for the benefit of consumers Article 17 of Law 2008-3 of January 3, 2008 for the development of competition at the service of consumers (known as the "Chatel (...)

Concise Aut. opinion No. 10-A-13 of 14 June 2010 on the cross-use of customer bases This opinion is the result of a link between the referral for opinion of 4 July 2008 from the Minister of the Economy and the Authority’s self-referral of 14 December 2009. Like other opinions recently issued (...)

In two decisions dated December 17, 2009 taken in the context of its dispute resolution powers, the CSA had enjoined Canal distribution to establish, before March 1, 2010, a new service plan for the Canal Sat offer, assigning in principle to the channels NRJ 12 and BFM TV the numbers 12 and 15 (...)

Since this decision is discussed in detail in the Agreements column, we will limit ourselves here to pointing out its possible scope in terms of regulatory law. In short, the Court of Appeals confirmed the protective measures ordered by the Competition Council in its decision 08-MC-01 of (...)

Article 28 of Act No. 2009-594 of 27 May 2009 on the economic development of the French overseasdepartments and territories requires ARCEP to draw up a report presenting an overview of the development of the electronic communications sector in the French overseas departments and territories. (...)

ARCEP, decree no. 2009-1106 of December 22, 2009 specifying, pursuant to Articles L. 34-8 and L. 34-8-3 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code, the terms and conditions for access to very high-speed fibre optic electronic communications lines and the cases in which the pooling (...)

Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 establishing the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the Office, OJ L337, 18 December 2009, p. 1. Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 2009-1067 of 17 December 2009 relating to the report and outcome of the procedure for granting authorisation in metropolitan France for a third-generation mobile system. On December 18, 2009, ARCEP awarded the fourth third-generation mobile phone license to Free Mobile, a (...)

CSA, Press release dated 17 December 2009, Injunction to Canal Sat to re-examine the numbering of NRJ 12 and BFM TV By decision of 17 December 2009, the CSA asked Canal Sat to grant the request of BFM TV and NRJ 12, which wanted to have channel numbers 15 and 12 in the channel numbering (...)

CRE, Deliberation of 20 November 2009, Communication on the electricity price peak of 19 October 2009 In a communication published on 20 November 2009, CRE endeavoured to draw the consequences of the peak in electricity prices that occurred on 19 October. It will be recalled that, on the (...)

– Concise Aut. opinion No. 09-A-43 of 27 July 2009 on a draft decree on regulated tariffs for the sale of electricity Since the adoption of the Law of 10 February 2000, which initiated the process of opening up the electricity market, the regulation of regulated tariffs has been amended (...)

– CE, July 24, 2009, Orange France and SFR, No. 324642 and 3 24687 In this ruling, the Conseil d’État ruled on the pricing framework for voice call terminations imposed by ARCEP on mobile operators in mainland France for the period from July 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010. The high (...)

Opinion No 09-A-42 of 7 July 2009 on exclusive relations between the activities of electronic communications operators and the distribution of content and services. The decision stems from a request for an opinion from the Minister of the Economy, Industry and Employment following the (...)

EC Comm, Recommendation on the Regulatory Treatment of Fixed and Mobile Termination Rates in the EU, OJ L124, 20 May 2009, p.67; see also Explanatory note SEC(2009) 600 On 7 May 2009, the European Commission published a recommendation on the regulation of fixed and mobile termination rates. (...)

CA Paris, ch. 5-5, May 14, 2009, France Telecom and Orange Sports v/ Free and Neuf Cegetel, RG 09/03360on appeal against T.Com. Paris, February 23, 2009, Free and Neuf Cegetel v/ France Telecom and Orange Sports RG 2008/078679 In a judgment dated February 23, 2009, the Paris Commercial Court (...)

US Supreme Court, Pacific Bell Telephone Co. D/B/A AT &T California v. linkLine Communications, Inc. et al, No. 07-512, Feb. 25, 2009 In this judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that a scissor-pricing practice could not constitute a violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act on abuse of (...)

T. com. Paris, February 23, 2009, Free and Neuf Cegetel v/ France Télécom and Orange Sports, RG 2008/078679 This decision follows on from the call for applications launched by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (’LFP’) for the broadcasting of League 1 matches for the period 2008-2012. On (...)