Orange, the largest mobile operator in France, has filed a complaint with regulator Arcep about a network-sharing agreement struck between smaller rivals SFR and Bouygues, according to Les Echos.

The newspaper report, cited by Reuters, said “the complaint was accompanied by a request for remedies aiming to suspend the implementation of the deal”.

Orange apparently views the agreement, signed in February, as too far-reaching and potentially irreversible given the close technological links the two operators intend to have.

According to previous reports, the shared network of Bouygues and SFR will cover 57 per cent of France’s population. A joint venture is to be created to manage the infrastructure, with each operator having “total commercial independence”.

Reuters reports that Bouygues and SFR, whose parent company Vivendi agreed its sale to Altice – owner of Numericable, France’s largest cable operator – expect to save around €300 million per year in costs once their network-sharing deal is up and running.

This won’t happen any time soon, however, even if the deal does get the regulatory go-ahead. SFR and Bouygues don’t envisage the shared network to come into operation until 2017-2018.

Orange is getting in its objections early.