Paris, 27 October 2003

Under the price cap established by Autorité de régulation des télécommunications (ART), Orange France and SFR, the two "powerful" operators on the interconnection market, will lower their call termination charges by 12.5% on average on 1^st January 2004. The termination charge will be time based, beginning the first second of the call. ART has asked that the fixed operators pass on the effects of this decrease to consumers.

• 2004: Third year of the 2002-2004 price cap on call termination charges on Orange France and SFR networks

In November 2001, ART set a decrease of approximately 40% on the average price of call termination charges on the networks of Orange France and SFR, powerful operators on the interconnection market.

• At 1^st January 2004, Orange France and SFR’s prices will conform with the price cap

 

ART has verified that at 1^st January 2004, Orange France and SFR’s average price for call termination will indeed respect the average rate of €0.1494 (excluding VAT) per minute established by the price cap.

• A new pricing structure which will result in major savings for consumers

Until now, unlike the vast majority of European operators, the termination charge for fixed-to-mobile calls originating in France on Orange France and SFR’s networks included an indivisible period.

At ART’s initiative, Orange France and SFR have eliminated this indivisible period. For 2004, the two operators have chosen a time-based call termination charge to be applied from the first second of the call, with no call establishment charge.

ART believes that this decrease in the call termination charge will benefit consumers and invites fixed operators to pass on the savings to the price of fixed-to-mobile calls beginning 1^st January 2004.

The new pricing structure

The change in prices

This call termination charge is the major component of the retail price of calls made from a fixed phone to a mobile and represents the amount the fixed operator pays the mobile operator to terminate the call.

ART decisions 01-970 and 01-971 established the change in average revenues for termination on their network for 2002-2004 as shown in the table below.

(*) beginning 1^st March 2002