10/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Fourth 3G mobile phone licence in France. On 10 May, the European Commission concluded that the procedure for awarding France's fourth 3G mobile phone licence to the operator Free Mobile (Iliad S.A.) in 2009 took place in an open and transparent manner that did not involve any state aid under EU rules. As a consequence, it rejected the complaints filed by the three operators already present on the French market - Orange (France Télécom), SFR (Vivendi) and Bouygues Télécom - which affirmed that the amount of the fixed spectrum usage fee (€240 million) that Free was to pay was not sufficiently high and therefore constituted state aid. (F.G./transl.jl)