France’s telecoms regulator Arcep has authorised the use of ‘spectrum refarming,’ enabling domestic mobile operators Orange France and Societe Francaise de Radiotelephonie (SFR) to roll out 3G mobile technology in the 900MHz band, previously reserved for 2G GSM services. According to reports, the move will enable the two companies to extend their national 3G coverage to include virtually the entire French population. According to a statement from Arcep, the regulator also offered Bouygues Telecom the opportunity to re-use the 900 MHz band for 3G. Arcep said the operator responded that it would deploy UMTS in the 900MHz band by the end of 2009 and that it would request the modification of its authorisation when necessary. To date Finland is the only other country to have allowed spectrum refarming.

Earlier this week Unstrung reported that UK operators Vodafone and 02 are strongly opposing local regulator Ofcom’s proposal to liberalise 2G spectrum for 3G services via an auction. The two companies argue that this approach goes too far, and are instead favouring a less intrusive approach such as spectrum trading.