France Telecom SA has been forced to delay the start of ADSL net access services until November, under a ruling from the French government’s Competition Council. The decision follows a complaint from Club-Internet, the country’s second largest internet service provider after the incumbent telco’s own Wanadoo ISP, which claimed that France Telecom had an unfair speed advantage with the technology because of its dominant position. As the telco owns the local loop, it alone could benefit from conducting trials of ADSL prior to a commercial launch. The Council said that this would distort competition. France Telecom’s Interactive division had planned to roll out the service this month via Wanadoo, but has been told to delay the launch for 15 weeks from July 15 to give rivals a chance to catch up. Once competition seems imminent, the ban is likely to be lifted.
