Arcep, French telecoms regulator, said on Tuesday the State Council, France's highest legal advisor, has validated allocation of the fourth license of the third generation (3G) mobile telephony to operator Free Mobile. Free mobile won the state bid last year after offering 240 million euros (360.59 million U.S. dollars), but the government- initiated operator Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom denounced the deal's illegal procedures. 'The State Council .. had received several requests to rescind the award procedure for the fourth third-generation (3G) mobile telephony licence' to Free Mobile, Arcep said in a statement. 'The Council has confirmed that it took place in accordance with the principles of transparency and objectivity, and that the terms of the spectrum license issued to Free Mobile in no way discriminated against the three existing mobile operators,' it added. It reaffirmed that the value of the deal was 'not discriminatory compared to the sum of 619 million euros (857.21 million dollars) paid by the three existing mobile operators in 2001-2002.' As a subsidiary of Iliad Group, a major French telecommunications player, Free recorded 3.7 million subscribers last year. The operator expects to start commercial operations of the mobile license in 2012. 