US EditionAmazon's satellite internet licence faces legal challenge in France
The union argues Arcep failed to assess market competition or security risks before granting Amazon a 10-year licence for its Kuiper satellite network.
- On Monday, the CFE-CGC Telecoms union asked France's highest administrative court to annul Arcep's July award of 10-year frequency rights to Amazon's LEO network.
- Arguing procedural failings, the union said Arcep skipped market analysis, failed to consult France's competition authority, and did not require a competitive tender for scarce radio frequencies.
- Amazon's Project Kuiper plans underlie the concerns, with the union saying Arcep ignored public-safety and data-protection rules for a non-European operator as Amazon prepares a fleet of over 3,000 LEO satellites and the first 27 satellites were launched earlier this year.
- The dispute represents a wider French pushback against big U.S. tech firms racing for spectrum, with Starlink and Eutelsat operating fleets of 8,000 and 648 satellites, and Starlink holding a similar 10-year licence and 8 million subscribers.
- Oxford Economics' study framed economic gains for France tied to Project Kuiper earlier this year, while concerns about European reliance on Starlink grew amid fears access key to Ukraine could be cut.
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11 Articles
The CFE-CGC Télécoms indicated that it had brought the matter before the Administrative Tribunal, considering that the regulator, Arcep, had not carried out the necessary checks.
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The CFE-CGC Telecoms trade union requested the highest administrative court in the country which cancelled a decision to grant Amazon 10-year rights on frequencies for its satellite network
Amazon's satellite internet licence faces legal challenge in France
A French union filed a legal challenge on Monday against a decision by the country's telecoms regulator to grant radio spectrum to Amazon's satellite internet service, the biggest test yet of the U.S. tech giant's broadband ambitions.
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