The founder of Free, Xavier Niel, pointed to BFM Business the possible choice of centrist MP Laure de La Raudière as the new director of the Telecoms Regulatory Authority.

He denounces the fact that the deputy has the disadvantage of having spent part of her career at France Telecom-Orange between 1990 and 2001 in various management positions.

"It would be aberrant for competition" if the deputy Laure de La Raudière was appointed by the President of the Republic at the head of the Telecoms Regulatory Authority (Arcep), blasted Monday Xavier Niel, founder of the operator Free .

According to the daily

Les Echos

, Emmanuel Macron "should propose" to appoint the member of Parliament for Eure-et-Loire (Agir) as president of the telecoms gendarme to succeed Sébastien Soriano, whose mandate ended in early January.

Information that had not been confirmed by the Élysée on Monday evening.

"It can only be a rumor"

Recognized specialist in digital and telecoms, "very competent, and who knows the sector well" by Xavier Niel's own admission, Laure de La Raudière (55) has the enormous drawback, according to him, of having achieved a part of his career at France Telecom-Orange between 1990 and 2001 in various management positions.

"Appointing at the head of an independent authority someone who has worked for 15 years at Orange, that seems quite surprising to me," blasted Xavier Niel in an interview on BFM Business Monday evening.

"It can only be a rumor, I cannot assume that it is fair. We need a man or a woman who knows telecoms as well as Laure de la Raudière but who has not worked in the sector ", hammered the president of Iliad, parent company of the operator Free.

"Competition works in France because we have an independent authority which for 20 years has done the job. It would seem incoherent to me to have a government, a President or a Prime Minister who take a decision like this", Xavier Niel lamented again.

"The Prince's Decision"

According to the law, the president of Arcep is appointed by the President of the Republic on the proposal of the Prime Minister.

To be confirmed, this appointment must then receive the approval of the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly - of which Laure de La Raudière is a member - and its equivalent in the Senate.

If the deputy is appointed head of Arcep, this decision cannot be contradicted because "the Prince's decision is the Prince's decision, that's how it is," said Xavier Niel.

"I'm just saying that it would be absurd for the competition in this country if this rumor were to prove to be correct. I do not think that it can be true because it is so huge", he insisted.