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14 June 2002

Autorité de régulation des télécommunications (ART) has just received France Telecom's new reference offer for access to the local loop.

ART is pleased to note that the functional and pricing methods requested in its decision dated 16 April 2002 have been taken into account.

This is an important step in opening the local loop to competition. It creates conditions favourable to the initiatives of operators who have already made investments or who wish to do so, thereby promoting the development of competition for new services, especially for Internet.

At the same time, France Telecom has brought a complaint before the Conseil d'Etat regarding the means of determining certain prices. This decision has no impact on the immediate application of the reference offer, whose complete implementation on the ground must contribute to the deployment of high-speed access across the country.

Nonetheless, ART is committed to ensuring that the conditions established on 30 April be met in order to guarantee competition on other means of access to high-speed services, complementing the unbundling of the copper pair.