PARIS (WiMAX Day). One year after it obtained 13 licenses for 3.4 ~ 3.6 GHz WiMAX spectrum in France, the consortium of Altitude Telecom and APRR (Paris-Rhine-Rhone Motorways) has split.

The joint venture operated under the name of Maxtel and acquired licenses in July 2006 for the regions of Alsace, Auvergne, Basse-Normandie, Bourgogne, Centre, Champagne-Ardenne, Haute-Normandie, Lorraine, Midi-Pyrénées, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays-de-la-Loire, Franche-Comté and Rhône-Alpes.

The French telecoms regulator, Arcep, announced last week that it approved the split, and 11 of the regions would be re-allocated to a new subsidiary company of Altitude named Altistream. The regions La Franche-Comté and Rhône-Alpes will be allocated to APRR. According to a report in Les Echoes, Rene Bérard, director of engineering for the motorway group, said it will find another partner to supply network services.

The report in Les Echoes described the split as “amicable,” and Bérard said that APRR was recently privatised and its new owner, Eiffage, did not agree on the distribution of costs in the joint venture.

One of the principal factors behind the joint venture was the financial capacity that APRR brought to Altitude. Now lacking a strong financial partner, the report in Les Echoes suggested that Altitude may soon form a joint venture or even merge with Bolloré Telecom, which has licenses in 12 regions of France.

Jean-Paul Rivière, chairman of Altitude Telecom, told the French online journal silicon.fr, “Altitude can easily raise funds. But for the moment, we do not need more money. As for the discussions with Bolloré, they existed, but they related only to the interconnection between our networks.”

Altitude previously owned the only national license for 3.5 GHz spectrum in France, and sold that license to the alternative telecoms provider Iliad in 2005. Iliad, which has built a major fibre network in France, has not utilised the national license, and has said recently that it will announce a launch of services in 2008 when it can provide mobility for WiMAX.

Likewise, Rivière has also noted that the majority of the network build for Altitude now will be focussed on mobile WiMAX services, for which they are awaiting equipment, and not likely to launch until 2008. Altitude has launched its network in the Eure, Calavados, Seine-et-Marne and Vendée regions, where some 300 base stations have been installed.

The other large spectrum owners in France, HDRR (a subsidiary of TDF) and Bolloré, are also focussed on mobile services for WiMAX, and are still testing their networks and selecting equipment vendors. The other license holder, SHD, a subsidiary of GSM operator SFR and Neuf Cegetel, has made a discrete launch of services and is reportedly planning full mobility for its network.

While each of these operators are planning to launch mobile services for WiMAX, presently the licenses in France do not permit full mobility, only “nomadic” services. However it has been reported that Arcep soon may allow mobility for the spectrum, following support from the ITU and EU commission, and recent actions of regulators in the UK and Austria.