(Telecompaper) Iliad's subsidiary Free and Digicel have announced the creation of a joint venture company, confirming recent press reports. The partnership supports their common objective of increasing the number of mobile cell sites in the French Antilles (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Barthelemy and Saint-Martin) and in French Guiana. The two groups said that the JV has the long-term ambition to invest in one of the largest telecom infrastructure networks in the region. Free and Digicel will be fully independent from a commercial perspective, with no impact on their spectrum licences and core network operations.