Telecom infrastructure sharing

The degree and method of infrastructure sharing can vary in each country depending on regulatory and competitive climate.

[4] The three largest French mobile network operators (Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR) have since 2008 been legally required by the French government and the French telecommunications regulator ARCEP to provide shared 2G GSM, 3G UMTS and 4G LTE coverage in rural dead zones (zone blanche in French) under the name "F-CONTACT" which, although made up of separate towers and radio access networks hosted by each of the three aforementioned operators, must legally allow their mobile signals to be shared with both postpaid and prepaid subscribers of each of said three operators.

[5] Infrastructure sharing limits duplication and gears investment toward underserved areas, product innovation, and improved customer service.

Traditionally, telecommunication development shows economy of scale and telecom operator spending has been dominated by considerable investment of technology and infrastructure.

By alleviating pressure of network deployment, sharing allows operators to turn their attention to improved innovation, better customer service and eventually better commercial offerings and healthier competition.