The French regulator, ART, has released a vague timetable of how the sale is to proceed, with the four licenses being sold by autumn 2002, around two years after the German and British licenses were sold.
Thus far licenses have been sold to France Telecom’s Orange and Vivendi’s SFR units. Incumbent operator Bouygues Telecom is the favorite for the third license, while Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and Spain’s Telefonica have also been rumored as bidders.
