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Arcep considering sanctions as 52 town centres in France were found to lack coverage by start of this year.
Orange and SFR are in hot water with French telco regulator Arcep after missing certain 2G coverage targets.
In July 2015, as part of Arcep’s ‘town centre not-spots’ programme, Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR were issued notices requiring them to provide 2G coverage to 17, eight and 53 town centres respectively by 1 January 2016.
While Bouygues Telecom fulfilled its coverage obligation by the deadline, Orange and SFR fell short, leaving five and 47 town centres respectively without coverage.
"Some have been covered since then," noted Arcep, in a statement on Thursday.
Nonetheless, RDPI – the division of Arcep responsible for settling disputes, legal proceedings and investigations – has forwarded the findings to Arcep’s restricted body, which has the power to impose penalties on the telcos.
"It is now up to the restricted body…to assess the allegations and deliberate over what, if any, sanctions should be imposed on the two operators," Arcep said.
Under the town centre not-spots programme, France’s telcos have agreed to roll out 2G coverage to 3,600 town centres by 31 December 2016 and 3G coverage by 30 June 2017.
The telcos also have coverage obligations attached to their 4G licences regarding France’s 22,500 rural municipalities, which represents 18% of the overall population but 63% of its landmass.
Those operators with 800-MHz 4G spectrum are required to cover 40% of that aforementioned population by 17 January 2017. France’s fourth mobile operator, Free Mobile, is not subject to this obligation; however, it is required to provide 4G coverage to 50% of this same population using its 700-MHz spectrum by 17 January 2022.
