At the end of 2020, Brussels validated the acquisition of Covage by SFR under certain conditions. Indeed, in order to avoid competition problems, the operator with the red square had to sell part of its networks. Altitude Infra and Axione had expressed their interest and had positioned themselves to acquire all the networks concerned.

In a joint press release, Altitude Infra, which manages 19 RIPs and claims to have deployed 1 million outlets, and Xp Fibre, the entity created by the merger between SFR FTTH and Covage, with 7 million outlets deployed, announced that they had entered into exclusive negotiations for the full acquisition of the assets. The transaction is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2021, following approval by the European Commission.

The 25 networks concerned correspond to Covage's fibre optic local loop activity in the Public Initiative Networks. This represents 95% of the operator's FttO (Fibre to the Office) activity. Among them, 15 Covage subsidiaries active almost exclusively on the wholesale market for capacity services on BLOD (Dedicated Optical Local Loop) and 10 Covage subsidiaries active marginally on the wholesale market for capacity services on BLOD and which also deploy FttH networks.

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Source : Univers Freebox

Last November, the European Commission approved the acquisition of Covage by SFR FttH. The company is now called Xp Fibre and has a portfolio of 7 million fiber optic connections. It includes 24 Public Initiative Networks (PINs), operated under public service delegations (PSDs); five AMEL zones and two proprietary networks; and 2.6 million outlets in AMII zones.

Its role remains broadly the same as that of SFR FttH, i.e., network deployment, operation and marketing of its own outlets, or through public partnerships, depending on the areas to be equipped.

In detail, SFR FttH already had 5.5 million outlets throughout France, notably through 16 public service partnerships, three AMEL zones and the AMII zone. With this acquisition, Xp Fibre now has 8 DSPs and 4 proprietary networks (including two AMEL).

Each of the deployment areas will benefit from a fiber optic network open to all commercial operators, Xp Fibre being an infrastructure operator. The general public, businesses and local authorities will all be able to subscribe to the access provider of their choice.

"The new entity, made up of the assets of SFR FttH and those resulting from the acquisition of Covage, gives rise to a new, even more ambitious player in the field of fiber for territories and a key player for commercial operators," commented Lionel Recorbet, President of Xp Fibre.

The capital of the new entity remains composed of the Canadian fund OMERS (one of the main defined benefit pension plans in Canada), Altice France and the infrastructure funds of the Axa and Allianz groups, as was that of SFR FttH.

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Source : Clubic

Altice, via its SFR FTTH branch, entered into exclusive negotiations a year ago to acquire 100% of the wholesale operator Covage.

The Association of Alternative Telecom Operators was quick to express its concern, because this merger was not "without raising profound questions about the preservation of an already fragile competitive intensity in the business and local authority market".

The European Commission "has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Covage by SFR FTTH, a company jointly controlled by Altice, Allianz and Omers. The clearance is subject to full compliance with a series of commitments offered".

Two commitments are made by SFR FTTH:

• "The sale to a suitable purchaser of 25 subsidiaries and assets corresponding to Covage's "optical local loop"" business in the territory of 30 public institutions. These subsidiaries and assets consist of FttO networks and represent in total approximately 95% of Covage's FttO business.
• "The offer of a transitional service contract, including access to all assets and services required to operate the divested business under competitive conditions for a period of time allowing SFR FTTH to become fully independent".

In conclusion, the Commission states that "the final commitments address the competition concerns identified by the Commission with respect to the acquisition of Covage by SFR FTTH and have been substantially improved following comments provided by market participants. The Commission has therefore concluded that the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, no longer raises competition concerns".

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Source : Next Inpact

Organized by Mon Territoire Numérique every year in March in Deauville, the RIP Estates General finally took place in video format. The meeting of public initiative networks made it possible to gauge the impact of the health crisis on the very high-speed broadband projects carried by local authorities.

At the end of March, InfraNum warned that a complete halt to the fibre optic deployment projects would be a "catastrophe" likely to cause 12 months of inertia. Today, the Federation of Digital Infrastructure Industrialists is breathing - a little. Its president, Étienne Dugas, says "We have worked on the ordinances, on the various decrees with more or less success" in order to "avoid the complete shutdown of the industrial tool, which is done".

Overall, activity fell, on average, to around 30% of nominal production during containment. This made it possible to keep the industrial facilities in operation, although the situation varied greatly from one region to another.

Today, the time has come for a return to load: 50% activity last week, 70% this week. At any rate, these are the figures announced by Julien Denormandie, the French Minister for Urban Affairs and Housing, who has been in charge of HSBB issues since 2017. But Etienne Dugas warns that they should be taken with caution: "In terms of productivity, we are still far from the rates we could have had previously".

This observation is corroborated by Lionel Recorbet for SFR FttH: "We are going to have a lot, a lot of difficulties to get back to 100%". Cyril Luneau, Director of Community Relations at Orange, also warns that a return to pre-crisis fibre deployment levels "is not for now". The Covid episode will have "a serious and profound impact on the calendars and milestones for the end of this year, and no doubt for 2022", i.e. the deadlines for the operator's commitment in the AMII zone.

The operators therefore warn that at this stage it is difficult to quantify the additional delays. Pascal Rialland, President of Covage, nevertheless risks predicting a postponement of deployment of "4 to 6 months in 2021" for the 75,000 fibre optic lines that Covage was to deploy in 2020 in Calvados.

Schedule slippages will be inevitable and consequently delays in commercialization could ultimately weigh on the economy of the projects carried by the communities. As will the more immediate additional costs associated with health precautions.

It is not possible at this stage to put a figure on these additional costs. InfraNum has also commissioned an impact study for the end of the month. The Federation of Industrialists intends to use this work as a basis for the recovery plan promised by the government for next September.

While waiting for a clearer picture of the impact of the health crisis, the participants in the Estates General of the RIPs preferred to insist on other levers for accelerating deployment in order to respond to the digital impatience.

On the industrial side, the immediate cash needs of companies in the sector were highlighted in order to be able to continue their activity. At the height of the crisis, infrastructure operators have multiplied initiatives to relieve the cash flow of their subcontractors (reductions in payment deadlines, advances and other subsidies). Now, the idea is to "put more agility" in the payments of France THD subsidies to local authorities, Julien Denormandie announces.

But the President of the French Telecoms Federation, Arthur Dreyfuss, tempers "the answer cannot only be public money". Beyond new financial help, the Secretary General of Altice France is waiting for "all those little everyday obstacles" to the deployment of fibre to be lifted. Many grievances have been voiced for years that many HSBB actors would like to see finally heard. In this exceptional situation, "we have to beat the iron", Patrick Chaize sums up. By making, for example, digital infrastructures an essential asset, argues the Senator of Ain and President of Avicca. An approach allowing the deployment to overcome some of these obstacles, also believes Arthur Dreyfuss, deploring that "we do not benefit from the right that gas or electricity enjoy.

An idea that does not convince Julien Denormandie, for whom such a status could be misunderstood by the French deprived of a good connection. The minister prefers to go through other texts for certain operational advances to which he says he is "open". On the other hand, concerning the very pressing question of co-ownership, the minister kicks the ball, referring to the "balances" of the Elan law. Operators and local authorities have therefore not finished with this painstaking work.

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Source : DegroupNews

One month after the validation by Arcep, the contract was finally signed between the department and Savoie Connectée. This transaction comes two years after the departmental council terminated its contract with Axione, a Bouygues subsidiary. At the time, an investment of €223 million was planned: €63 million financed by local authorities and €70 million provided by the region, the State and the European Union.

In 2017, elected officials from the Maurienne had entrusted Fibréa with the installation of its own fibre optic network. The departmental council then accused the latter of having unbalanced the public service delegation concluded with Axione. Mauritian elected officials said they had had enough of waiting for the department to deploy the fibre. They had therefore taken charge of it themselves to ensure the development of their territory.

A few months after the termination, the government proposed to local authorities to deploy AMELs to accelerate the installation of optical fibre in rural areas. A system enabling departmental councils to have the deployment financed from operators' own funds.

The Savoie department has therefore chosen this framework to deploy its fibre optic network in rural areas. And it is Savoie Connectée that finances the cost of the works, relying on its shareholders (Covage with 70% of the capital and Orange with 30%). Within four years, 255,000 sockets will have to be connected in 243 municipalities in Savoie. Almost the entire territory of the department will then be connected to very high bandwidth.

The operation is not new for Covage since the operator operates the DSP for optical fibre in 246 municipalities in Haute-Savoie. And he was also awarded an AMEL in Saône-et-Loire.

This eliminates the need for the department to worry about funding and shortens the deployment time. The maturity date is 2023 instead of 2026 in the terminated contract with Axione. However, the departmental council will have paid 6.8 million euros in compensation to Axione to free itself.

A year ago, Covage acquired Fibréa, the company that has wired nearly 500 kilometres of optical fibre in the Maurienne. Therefore, the repetition of the scenario from the previous contract is ruled out. "This avoids any subsequent conflict," agrees Hervé Gaymard, president of the Savoie County Council.

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Source : La Tribune

With the objective of 3 million eligible fibre sockets by the end of the year in these Public Initiative Networks located mainly in rural areas, the operator announced on Tuesday the finalisation of an agreement for the marketing of its fibre offers on the RIPs allocated to Covage.

At the end of this agreement, Orange will be able to roll out its services on certain FTTH networks in Covage: Calvados, Essonne, Haute-Savoie, Hérault, Seine-et-Marne, Somme, Lille and the Dunkirk Urban Community.

Last March, Orange's management claimed a 30% market share in RIPs but is now aiming to take the lion's share on these networks. This approach will necessarily involve partnerships with infrastructure operators specialising in the deployment of these RIPs, such as Covage. The company operates 46 public or private networks and currently covers 2.3 million sockets.

Orange had 350,000 own catches this winter in sparsely populated areas. To reach its target of 900,000 own-access catches in RIPs by the end of the year, the future will therefore depend on partnerships. The incumbent operator wishes to increase the share of catches purchased from partners in these areas to 2 million by the end of 2019. The issue is well understood by Orange, as evidenced by the conclusion of this partnership with Covage.

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Source : ZDNet

After Altice at the end of November, it is Cube Infrastructure's turn to put its shares up for sale according to several sources. Covage's 50% shareholder paid 66 million euros in 2012 to buy back its shares from Vinci. However, Morgan Stanley Bank was mandated to find a buyer on the basis of a valuation of €1 billion.

The group's EBITDA would now reach €35 million for a turnover of around €100 million. "These ratios are not relevant. We are talking about an activity in full explosion with a very low maturity. In reality, the main driver is rarity," points out a good connoisseur of the file.
Charged by several departments with deploying optical fibre, Covage has already connected 630,000 of the planned 2.2 million households. The company still hopes to win a few more contracts to reach 3 million catches, which would represent just under 10% of French households.
When all the cables are pulled, Covage will be one of the few players to have such a digital infrastructure in a significant portion of the country. Indeed, once this task is completed, operators will have to pay a fee to use their networks.

€1.8 billion to acquire half of the optical lines that SFR must deploy outside major cities. But this deal is criticized in the industry because many believe that the infrastructure has been oversold. Indeed, the line rental prices highlighted could not be applied.

On paper, there are many candidates for the acquisition of Covage: investment funds, other RIP players, in particular Altitude or major operators...

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Source : Les Echos.fr

A smooth start to the school year for this event, which is now full!

The teams of Grand Lyon THD (Covage) and Rezopole are looking forward to meeting you on Wednesday, September 19th from 6:30 pm. Extend the summer at the Oscar brewery at the Puces du Canal while discovering the latest news from our sponsor.

Rezopole and Grand Lyon THD (Covage) are pleased to invite you to the 51st edition of the Aperezo which will take place on Wednesday 19 September at Oscar aux Puces du Canal, from 6:30 pm.

Attention: the number of places being limited, registration is MANDATORY.
For organizational and security reasons, any person not in possession of a nominative registration confirmation * will be refused access to the event.

* Confirmation by name subsequently sent by e-mail.

Please limit the number of professionals per company to 3.

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By registering, you agree, if you appear on the photos taken during the event, that they be published on our site, social networks and the site of our partner.

About our sponsor

The Metropole du Grand Lyon has awarded Covage, the very high speed public service delegation named Grand Lyon THD, for a period of 25 years in order to accelerate the fibre coverage of its territory. Grand Lyon THD, a subsidiary of Covage, is in charge of the construction and operation of the optical fibre network, the Fibre Grand Lyon. The aim is to provide professionals, administrations and companies with a wider range of very high speed offers, simpler and faster access and more competitive prices. Grand Lyon THD offers its 90 operators very high speed services from 2 Mbps to 10 Gbps for businesses.

To facilitate your visit to Oscar, do not hesitate to consult this access map as well as all practical information (public transport, itineraries, etc.).

For this 51st Aperezo, Rezopole and Grand Lyon THD (Covage) will meet you at Oscar on September 19th.

Come and meet the IT and Telecom players of the region in an amazing place, mixing vintage flavours and design architecture. To discover this unique atmosphere, click here.

More informations to come!

The next Aperezo organized by Rezopole in Lyon, sponsored Grand Lyon THD, will be held on Thursday, June 22th at the Harner restaurant starting from 6:30 pm. Meet the Grand Lyon THD team and the regional IT industry professionals around a glass in a pleasant and friendly atmosphere.

As places remain limited, please register now.

For safety reasons, please bring imperatively your personal confirmation of registration. Any non-registered person would be denied access to the Aperezo.

Please register before June 15th, 2017.

   Register now !

The participation at the Aperezo is reserved for the Rezopole members, if you are not a member yet, please complete the membership form (Silver membership is free).

About Grand Lyon THD

Find more informations on Grand Lyon THD web site.

The next Aperezo organized by Rezopole will be sponsored by Grand Lyon THD. 

Rezopole reminds to you: the registration is compulsory.

More informations coming soon...

This huge succes forces us to close registrations today.

Thank you for your understanding.

And see you soon for our next event!

Keep in touch!

The next Aperezo organized by Rezopole in Lyon, in partnership with Grand Lyon THD (COVAGE), is going to be held on Thursday, March 24 at the Ninkasi Gerland restaurant starting from 18:30. Meet the Grand Lyon THD team and the regional IT industry professionals around a glass in a pleasant and friendly atmosphere.

Register to the Aperezo #37

About Grand Lyon THD - COVAGE

Grand Lyon THD, is the Lyon-based COVAGE subsidiary, responsible for the high-speed telecoms network construction and operation in the Grand Lyon territory. The Delegation of Public Service, launched in October 2015, has as vocation to cover the entire territory with broadband in order to connect professional and public sites with the fibre optic network starting autumn of 2016.

COVAGE NETWORKS, high-speed network infrastructure operator, is now interconnected on the LyonIX Internet Exchange Point.

COVAGE NETWORKS offers more than two hundred electronic communication operators, French and international, to interconnect at LyonIX via its national transmission network.

COVAGE NETWORKS serves and operates 25 Public Initiative Networks and offers a complete range of services: FTTO (business and civil services), FTTH (Home and Pro), VPN (Virtual Private Network), IP Transit (Internet access), Multicast (Distribution of audiovisual streams), Datacenter accommodation etc.

Find more about COVAGE NETWORKS.

COVAGE NETWORKS is present in the LyonIX 2G rack.