Last time round, only two of the four licenses were sold – to Vivendi’s SFR unit and to France Telecom’s Orange. Third incumbent Bouygues Telecom dropped out of the bidding, and various rumored new entrants failed to materialize.

It’s not yet clear who will bid for the new licenses. According to Bouygues, We are waiting for the terms and conditions of this auction to decide whether we should be involved. And new entrant bidders are still looking scarce.