The connection data makes it possible to identify anyone who has contributed to the creation of content, such as their IP address, geolocation, telephone records or the numbers of their frequently called contacts. This personal information is very useful during an investigation and can be used to identify the perpetrator of an offence or to gather evidence.

However, the Court of Justice of the European Union has just ruled that Member States are not entitled to impose on operators a general and indiscriminate obligation to transmit and store the connection data of Internet users.

The law of 24 July 2015 offers French intelligence services the possibility of having the connection data of a person identified as a threat transmitted to them in real time. This is an obligation that weighs on operators and worries many associations about the powers conferred on the intelligence services. This is why the Quadrature du Net referred the matter to the Council of State, which considered that French legislation was in breach of European law.

The Court of Justice of the European Union was asked by the court responsible for investigative powers in the United Kingdom, the Council of State and the Belgian Constitutional Court to examine the validity of the data retention regime in the light of European law.

And this new decision only confirms the principles already laid down in April 2014 in its Tele2 Sverige AB ruling. "The Directive of 12 July 2002 [...] precludes national legislation which, for the purposes of combating crime, provides for the general and indiscriminate retention of all traffic and location data of all subscribers and registered users relating to all means of electronic communication," the Court of Justice ruled.

These obligations of generalised and undifferentiated transmission and storage constitute "particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Charter" such as the right to respect for private life.

In short, the judicial and intelligence authorities can no longer request the transmission of connection data to electronic communications service providers, with a few exceptions. Indeed, in the case of a "serious threat to national security" or "terrorist activities", States may require operators to retain connection data.

Nevertheless, two conditions are laid down: "The decision providing for this injunction, for a period temporarily limited to what is strictly necessary, must be subject to effective control, either by a court or by an independent administrative entity," the court ruled. The body in charge of the control will have to verify "the existence of one of these situations as well as the respect of the conditions and guarantees provided".

A decision with very important consequences for the judicial and intelligence services, in particular on ongoing proceedings that could be stopped dead in their tracks or their acts declared null and void.

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Source : L'Usine Digitale

To estimate the number of premises to be connected to fibre optics in France, the Arcep has hitherto relied on INSEE data. However, a few days ago, the contours became clearer with the integration into its data of the IPE (Information Préalable Enrichée) files from the operators. This information has long been requested by the Association of Local Authorities for the Digital Economy (Avicca) and which it hastened to examine.

The result: of the 9,000 municipalities for which the IPE files are now authentic, the number of premises is much higher than previously estimated. In particular in the AMII zone, a notorious casus belli between the operators who deploy there and Avicca. Avicca counted "1.82 million premises not accounted for" in the old reference system, which was set at around 13.5 million. Orange and SFR made binding commitments to the government on this basis. By this yardstick, "objectives that already seemed unattainable - even before the current health crisis - now seem unrealistic," comments Avicca.

In order to take into account the strong disruptions caused by the health crisis, the association is calling for a "freeze" on the timetable, but "Covid-19 could not be held solely responsible for all the delays that Avicca and Arcep have been measuring for years", it continues. Already heard this week from the regulator's side, this speech is making the operators get off their hinges.

In the other zones, the additional premises are more limited. The association calculates 300,000 homes and other establishments more than expected in very dense areas, and nearly 500,000 in areas of public initiative. Enough to encourage the members of the association dependent on RIP to be "vigilant", concludes Avicca.

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Source : DegroupNews

Sébastien Soriano, the president of Arcep, was heard on the issue of network deployment by the Senate commission on regional planning and sustainable development. The latter sent him a "strong request" to maintain the schedules, even in the current context, and urged the regulator to "exercise its power of control and sanctions in the event of non-compliance with the objectives assigned to them".

Adjustments will no doubt be necessary, but the commission points out that "the current crisis also reveals the flaws of our digital society", since "part of our population is now disconnected as well as being confined".

The two major projects currently underway are the France Very High Speed Internet plan for the deployment of fibre optics and the New Deal Mobile to accelerate 4G deployment.

Even if a shift in the timetable is likely, the Senate committee calls for the Arcep to be firm in its consideration of requests for extensions to deadlines in order "not to accept any delay justified by the crisis". It also asks operators to make a financial effort "in the direction of lower-ranking companies" to support the sector and avoid its disorganisation.

For his part, the president of the Arcep indicated that the risks of network saturation were under control thanks to the measures taken by operators and the empowerment of consumers and video content providers. However, this aspect will have to be developed after the crisis, even if it means introducing a "derogation proportionate to the neutrality of the Web".

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Source : Génération NT

Whether through the development of teleworking, videoconferencing or recreational uses, the French are making greater use of the various telecommunications networks, both fixed and mobile, during this period. But the situation seems to be under control in France.

In an interview by Les Dernières Nouvelles D'Alsace, Arthur Dreyfuss, President of the French Telecom Federation, explains: "We have seen an unprecedented increase in the number of connections from the very first hours and this is maintained throughout the confinement. [...] The need for telecoms networks is vital for work, entertainment and information."

And according to him, France is doing better than some of its neighbours. "But unlike other European countries, the networks in France hold, and help to ensure the country's continuity. [...] This is because operators have invested 20 billion in two years in infrastructure and they are collectively committed during this period."

He also points out that "despite the difficulties related to containment, technicians are working hard to meet the commitments, continuing deployments to bring new connections into service, in particular the antennas on the 140 mobile sites that are being pooled under construction. But we are facing many operational difficulties related to the crisis, which are obviously causing us to fall behind".

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Source : Univers Freebox

As part of the France Très Haut Débit plan, the operator in the red square has undertaken to cover around 20% of medium-density fibre territories, compared with 80% for Orange. They are, however, obliged to open up these networks to other operators at "reasonable prices" under the Arcep.
However, SFR has recently decided to increase its tariffs and the move has irritated Bouygues Telecom's staff.

Bouygues Telecom, like other operators, considers that the rates charged by SFR are no longer "reasonable". So much so that Martin Bouygues' operator formally filed a request for dispute settlement with Arcep more than two months ago. In detail, SFR's so-called "co-financing" tariff has been increased from EUR 5.32 to EUR 5.80 per line per month as of 1 February. The rental price for a single line rose from EUR 16.40 to EUR 16.73 per month.

SFR was already more expensive than Orange before its price increase. These prices are all the more unjustified since connecting to the network of the operator with the red square is, for technical reasons, more expensive than at Orange. Some argue that SFR's strategy is designed to discourage its rivals from offering competing fibre offers in the medium-density area.

This risk was recently mentioned by the chairman of Arcep, Sébastien Soriano: "Today, in private areas, Arcep is working on a project in progress, since one of the major operators deploying fibre has pricing practices that raise questions. I mean that we are working on it. The Arcep will not leave any stowaways in the system. It will not let a player take advantage of the situation to charge higher prices by having established a private monopoly. You can count on the Arcep to dot the i's on that."

A good connoisseur of the sector, however, tempers criticism of SFR. On the one hand, he argues that Patrick Drahi's operator has a higher cost base than Orange. On the other hand, he wonders why Bouygues Telecom only applies to Arcep today, when the rental price of SFR's line has remained stable since 2012. He also believes that Bouygues Telecom could also have chosen to co-invest, at least in part, with SFR, instead of resorting solely to the rental of single lines. In any event, it is now up to the regulator to arbitrate.

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Source : La Tribune

A saturation of the Internet networks was mentioned several times at the beginning of the containment. A risk that is globally non-existent except locally on over-solicited mobile antennas. This is what nPerf has just revealed in a study specially dedicated to the impact of containment on Internet speeds. The specialist in connection evaluation thus observes a slight drop in performance on mobile networks, but that of fixed connections has not weakened.

Indeed, mobile networks in residential areas were not really designed to handle the extra traffic overnight. They were used much more than in normal times, and the fact that all residents shared the same antenna meant that they were unable to deliver their usual performance.

A 10% drop in average flow rates, i.e. 4 Mb/s, was observed on average over the end of March. Accompanied by a drop in browsing performance, notably at Orange and Free, while streaming remained stable. Despite this, nPerf believes that the overall picture remains "very acceptable" for the four operators.

On the other hand, confinement has not really had a negative impact on fixed Internet speeds. According to the tests compiled, the overall situation even tended to improve at the end of March. This is the case at Bouygues Telecom, SFR and Orange, with the exception of Free.

Fiber Internet speeds remained stable overall at Orange and Free. For its part, SFR has posted steady growth since the beginning of the year, which has not been contradicted despite the containment. Bouygues Telecom's Internet bandwidths also increased at the end of the quarter.

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Source : Ariase

On October 7th, Arcep announced the first projects selected to use the 26 GHz frequency band. Called "millimetre band", according to the regulator, this band represents "an extremely localized capacitive contribution for very high speed mobile networks in very dense areas, mainly in urban or suburban areas, in specific locations (ports, factories...) or inside buildings".

The regulator and the government issued a call for projects in January 2019 to identify the uses of 5G in this frequency band. In total, 11 projects have been validated by the authorities to test 5G on the 26 GHz band for 3 years. Sébastien Soriano explains "the fundamental challenge is the Internet of things, an almost infinite universe is opening up to us".

Heterogeneous proposals:

• the major seaport of Le Havre is seeking to develop the port city of tomorrow.
• Bordeaux Metropole will use the 5G to manage the connected streetlights and thus ensure intelligent energy management within the municipalities concerned.
• With a view to the 2024 Olympic Games, the Saint-Quentin en Yvelines national velodrome will be able to test 5G for the media.
• SNCF will be able to observe the benefits of 5G in Rennes station with different cases of use affecting both users and SNCF agents.

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Source : Le Monde Informatique

Launched on September 16, Wi-Fi 6 will become widespread in the Telecom sector. Indeed, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, more than 1.6 billion devices will offer it by the end of 2020. "This is the first time in the history of Wi-Fi that we're going to see so much progress. The impact of Wi-Fi often goes unnoticed. Yet even international trade depends on it! Wi-Fi 6 is there, it's a reality, companies deliver their products," enthuses Kevin Robinson, Wifi-Alliance's Vice President of Marketing.

The next mobile phone standard, 5G, is planned for 2020 in France. Telecoms operators will first have to buy the valuable licenses this fall. However, using free frequencies, Wi-Fi 6 was able to arrive this summer in France.

This version 6 has many advantages. It allows dozens of devices to be connected simultaneously. "Today, in an average family of four people, there are at least four phones on the same Wi-Fi, not to mention business smartphones, tablets, one or more PCs, a connected TV... We see that the number of devices per household is increasing faster than the speed consumed," explains Christian Gacon, director of fixed networks at Orange Labs.

But 5G should not relieve the problem. 5G uses high frequency bands, compared to 4G, which allow broadcasting further away but penetrate less well inside buildings. For this reason, 5G will be used mainly outdoors and Wi-Fi 6 indoors. "These are two complementary technologies. For example, Wi-Fi 6 will not allow the development of autonomous cars!" says Kevin Robinson. In the industrial world, 5G will therefore be essential for uses requiring very low latency and long range. Wi-Fi 6 is more suitable for short-range uses.

But others are more measured. "Wi-Fi 5 is already very powerful and will support the next ten years. Wi-Fi 6 is for the next twenty years. It brings an improvement... From my point of view, the real breakthrough came with Wi-Fi 5," says Marc Taieb, president and founder of Wifirst.

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Source : Les Echos

Fibre optic cables, data transfer and storage stations and power plants form a vast network of physical infrastructure that underpins Internet connections.

Recent research shows that a large part of this infrastructure will be affected by rising water levels in the coming years. After mapping the Internet infrastructure in the United States, scientists overlayed it with maps showing sea level rise. Their results: in 15 years, thousands of kilometres of fibre optic cables and hundreds of other critical infrastructures are at risk of being overwhelmed by the waves. Still according to the researchers, the extra few centimetres of water could plunge nearly 20% of the U.S. Internet infrastructure underwater.

"Much of the existing infrastructure is located just off the coast, so it doesn't take much more than a few centimetres of water to get it underwater", says Paul Barford, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and co-author of the study: The network was deployed 20 years ago, when no one thought that sea levels could rise.

The physical structure of the Internet network has been installed somewhat randomly and often opportunistically along power lines, roads or other major infrastructure in recent decades when demand has exploded.

While scientists, designers and companies have long been aware of the risks posed by rising water levels on roads, subways and power lines, no one has so far been interested in the consequences that this could have on the physical Internet network.

"When you consider how interconnected everything is today, protecting the Internet is crucial", says Mikhail Chester, director of the Resilient Infrastructure Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Even the smallest technical incidents can have disastrous consequences. He continues "this new study reinforces the idea that we must be aware of the state of these systems, because it will take a long time to update them".

Rich Sorkin, co-founder of Jupiter Intelligence, a company that models climate-induced risks, says, "We live in a world designed for an environment that no longer exists". And concludes by saying that "accepting the reality of our future is essential - and this type of study only underlines the speed with which we will have to adapt".

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Source : National Geographic

In the 2018 edition of its Visual Networking Index (VNI), Cisco announced that IP traffic is expected to triple in five years to 4.8 zettaocytes by 2022 (396 exabytes per month from 122 in 2017).

This growth is mainly due to two factors: the increase in the number of Internet users and the increase in the number of connected devices. According to Cisco, 4.8 billion people will use the Internet in 2022 compared to 3.4 billion in 2017. The number of fixed and mobile connections would increase to 28.5 billion within five years, half of which would concern Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and IoT.

According to the American network equipment manufacturer's forecasts, global Internet traffic generated by consumer uses will increase from 267 exabytes per month in 2017 to 333 exabytes in 2022. Business and government traffic is expected to double and represent 16% of total IP traffic.

The network preferred by users would be the fixed Internet with 273 exabytes per month at the end of 2022. Mobile IP traffic would follow with 77 exabytes but would be ahead of managed IP with 45 exabytes per month.

Internet video is also expected to grow strongly and represent 82% of global traffic in 2022, an increase of 7 points, all networks combined.

The adoption of SD-WAN in companies is also confirmed, with traffic increasing by 37% per year.

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Source : Silicon

An interesting article and a graphic presentation very interesting as well.

France is well positioned. But like all statistics, some people will react. At 18 Mbps on average, many particular and especially companies will say that they are not located on French territory and even in large cities.