Telecommunications - Roaming: The Council of State rules that the regulator is entitled to impose roaming on frequencies used by the 2G cellular telecom network operators for the benefit of new entrants, which are only authorized for 3G cellular telecom networks, if necessary to ensure fair and efficient competition, but confirms that the regulator was entitled to refuse in 2008 to make use of this power in French overseas departments (Mediaserv)

*This article is an automatic translation of the original article, provided here for your convenience. Read the original article. The entry of new mobile network operators into the market is subject, in addition to various economic barriers, to significant constraints due to the scarcity of spectrum resources. The possibility of imposing roaming on the networks of incumbent operators may be a response to this constraint. The ruling just handed down by the Conseil d'État on 2 April 2010 has the merit of clearly specifying when the regulator can impose such a constraint on operators already holding frequency use authorisations. In so doing, the Conseil d'État has just reinforced the electronic communications regulator in two ways, firstly by granting it the power to impose such roaming,