Submitted to Parliament and presented on 25 June at an online press conference, this new edition of the report on the state of the Internet in France sets out the key developments in the various components of the fixed and mobile Internet networks for 2019.

The aim is to ensure, through regulation, that the Internet continues to develop as a common good in which the user is the ultimate arbiter.

An entire chapter is devoted, for the first time, to the issue of the environmental impact of digital technology. A first step towards a "green barometer" that Arcep wishes to set up to make available to the public the most relevant data on the environmental footprint of networks, terminals and uses.

Although this is a report on 2019, the Arcep also details its observations and the first lessons learnt from the period of the health crisis and the spring 2020 containment, which had a strong impact on network uses.

Other issues such as quality of service, data interconnection, the transition to IPv6, net neutrality, the opening of terminals and the role of platforms are also addressed in this report. 

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Source : Arcep

The Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes is publishing the 2019 edition of its Internet Health Check in France. Submitted to Parliament, this report highlights the actions taken to ensure the openness of the Internet, looks at potential threats and presents the regulator's action to contain them.

The balance sheet in brief!

1- Quality of services
The service comparators are so inhomogeneous today that the Arcep wanted to improve them by setting up an API in the boxes containing the "access identity card" of each terminal. This will allow a much better diagnosis with reliable information on the parameters of each measurement. This API is complemented by a code of conduct. Gradually adopted by the measurement stakeholders, it makes it possible to improve the reliability, transparency and readability of the results.

2- Data interconnection
In constant evolution, this ecosystem can be the site of occasional tensions. The Arcep is vigilant in monitoring the market. It publishes data from its information collection in its annual barometer of interconnection in France. When the situation requires it, the Arcep can also become a "gendarme" and settle disputes between the actors.

3- Transition to IPV6
The end of IPV4 is now scheduled for June 2020. Operators' planned deployments of IPV6 may not be able to address the shortage of IPV4 addresses. Therefore, Arcep will organise the first working meeting of the "IPV6 Task Force" in the second half of 2019. These meetings will aim to accelerate the transition to IPV6 in France by sharing the experiences of the different actors and defining actions to be implemented

4- Net neutrality
The guidelines for the implementation of the principle of net neutrality by national regulators have generally proved their worth. The country has a positive balance sheet. However, Arcep ensures that access providers continue to adjust their practices in line with the European regulatory framework.

5- Opening of terminals
If in terms of net neutrality, the Arcep can exercise its protection on networks there is a weak link: terminals. Adopted at the beginning of this year, the European "Platform-to-business" regulation brings more transparency on the practices of online platforms towards their corporate clients. However, this regulation does not yet ensure the neutrality of terminals. Arcep made 11 concrete proposals to ensure an "end-to-end" open Internet in a report on the issue in February 2018.

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Source : Arcep