Paris, May 10, 2021 - France-IX, one of Europe's leading Internet Exchange Points (IXP), is moving into the Marcoussis campus of DATA4, a leading French and European data centre operator and investor, to optimise Internet connectivity for businesses. With this new point of presence, DATA4's customers will be able to interconnect directly to the France-IX exchange node, which, for its part, intends to develop its peering ecosystem.

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"By connecting to an exchange point, companies gain in performance and have the necessary resilience for their critical applications while optimising their costs. France-IX's new point of presence at Marcoussis will allow DATA4's customers to optimize the way they exchange data to promote the hybridization of their platforms to the Cloud within DATA4's infrastructures," said Jérôme Totel, Vice President Strategy, DATA4 Group.

[...]

"Our move to DATA4's Marcoussis campus reflects our desire to address the enterprise segment, which is different from our historical members, as well as to address the demands of some of our existing members. By facilitating access to the Cloud, peering represents an essential vector for them to meet the challenges of digital transformation. This strategic partnership with DATA4 will allow us to pursue our growth strategy in France by expanding our network and our ecosystem," said Franck Simon, President of France IX Services.

 Read the press release

The TAT-14 telecommunications cable, which consists of two 19-year-old cables, is being decommissioned. This operation, carried out by Subsea Environmental Services, involves the recovery and recycling of the cable and bases, from land to deep water segments in the North Atlantic.
The first phase started in mid-April and will be completed by the end of 2021. It only concerns the onshore part, with the recovery of the coastal ends in Denmark and the Netherlands, but this work is not necessarily the easiest...

More than a year of planning has been required to consider the interests of multiple stakeholders in licensing, borders and jurisdictions, constructed buildings, crossings, and considerations of proximity to third party assets in various countries.

While the experiment is not new, it is being closely followed by the entire submarine cable community. It should allow for the identification of risks, analysis and implementation of necessary mitigations, while maintaining operations within a tight project schedule. Careful consideration of the project's impact on waste, environmental factors and opportunities to reuse portions are also examined.

Connecting Northern Europe directly to North America, TAT-14 has been replaced by the new Havfrue / AEC-2 cable since last month. This cable connects Denmark and Norway to the US, with a future extension planned for Ireland.

 Read the article

Source : Datacenter Magazine

With more than 33,000 consumer alerts via the "J alerte l'Arcep" platform in 2020, the telecoms regulator reveals a 37.5% increase in complaints compared to 2019.

Among the 4 operators (Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free), the worst performer was Free, generating the most negative requests from the French. It thus takes the place of SFR. In detail, Bouygues Telecom had 19 alerts per 100,000 customers. This compares to 25 for Orange, 26 for SFR and 29 for Free.

The French have used the Internet much more in 2020, with the various confinements, and have noticed many problems. "This year again, the most frequent complaints received concern the quality of service, including after-sales service. Next comes dissatisfaction with network developments (fibre rollout, insufficient mobile coverage, etc.), in particular fibre rollout, followed by operators' commercial practices and difficulties encountered when changing operators", explains Arcep.

Generally speaking, French people's satisfaction has fallen. If the average for operators was 7.65/10 in 2019, it was 7.5/10 in 2020.

The biggest differences are in fixed-line services. SFR customers give SFR a satisfaction rating of 6.8/10 compared to 7.5/10 for Orange.

For mobile, the scores range from 7.4 for SFR to 7.8 for Orange and Free.

While the operators' customer services are generally poorly rated. Free does well with a 2.6/5, while SFR closes the bench with a pitiful 1.8/5.

 Read the article

Source : Journal du Geek

Editorial

"You are holding in your hands the 2021 edition of RezoLink, the directory of interconnected players on the IXPs of Lyon, Grenoble and Annecy, bringing together the network and telecom experts of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. You will also find the local authorities and associations that are partners of France-IX Lyon.

More than 2000 copies of this new edition have been distributed, listing operators, ESNs, hosting companies, public and private players, making it an essential information tool and the Internet & Telecom reference for the region's economic players.

The most perceptive will have noticed the presence of the France IX logo in our pages. Indeed, since December 15, 2020, Rezopole has become France-IX Lyon. This new entity, born from the merger of Rezopole and France-IX, completes a structure already strongly established in Paris and Marseille. At the end of your RezoLink, you will (re)discover the map of all France-IX PoPs.

Enjoy your reading,

The France-IX Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes team "

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France-IX Lyon / Rezopole will meet you on April 30th for a morning dedicated to the improvement of BtoB Internet exchanges thanks to LyonIX and GrenobliX infrastructures.

Details will be detailed during this videoconference:
- the IXP part, which improves Internet exchanges between users in a territory, reduces telecom costs, and secures and optimizes the network thanks to the multiple routes offered.
- the NAP part, which provides connected members with direct access to the operators present and their offers. We buy or sell any type of Telecom service with great flexibility.

On the agenda

• General presentation
• What is an IXP / NAP?
  • How does it work?
  • Economic & technical advantages
•  The IXP / NAP of Lyon and Grenoble
  • Members
  • Offers & services
  • Connection solutions
• Events & Tools
• Questions & Answers

Useful information

• Schedule from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
• Link of the videoconference sent by email the day before the event

 Register

Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission has been challenged by four senators to redefine the broadband standard. They want to impose a speed of 100 Mbps symmetrical.

Since 2015, the prevailing definition of Broadband in the United States has been 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream. Senators believe that speeds above 3 Mbps in upload are needed throughout the country.

This approach of differentiating between download and upload has already been judged by Jessica Rosenworcel as outdated and she wanted to raise the levels. The challenge is to use these new criteria to better assess the number and location of underserved Americans. This would also perhaps boost fiber, where cable access is the majority in the United States.

As there is no international definition of broadband, it depends on each country. In France, Arcep only takes into account the downstream speed, which must be between 512 Kbits/s and 30 Mbits/s, while the Very High Speed is above 30 Mbits/s. These criteria are much less demanding than the US senators' proposal.

However, the problem is completely different in France, since very efficient FttH (fiber to the home) infrastructures are being deployed at full speed. As a result, very high-speed access should become the majority in our country. The government has also set itself the goal of bringing fiber access to all homes by 2025.

 Read the article

Source : 01net

The latest quarterly figures published by Arcep confirm the growth of optical fibre in France: "the fourth quarter of 2020 was marked by record growth in fibre optic deployment (FttH) and its adoption, which concludes another record year in 2020". The 10 million subscriptions to FttH offers have now passed the 10 million mark.

The number of very high-speed broadband subscriptions now stands at 14.7 million. This represents nearly half of the total number of Internet subscriptions in France, and 51% of the number of premises eligible for very high-speed broadband, an increase of 3 points in one year.

This growth is primarily due to the increase in FttH subscriptions. With 3.3 million additional accesses in 2020, the number of FttH subscriptions is estimated at 10.4 million, or 70% of the total number of very high-speed accesses. Although broadband subscriptions still make up the majority of Internet subscriptions, with almost 16 million, they have dropped by 2.5 million in 2020.

In total, at the end of 2020, France had 30.6 million broadband and very high-speed subscriptions. This represents an increase of 285,000 in one quarter and 800,000 in one year (+2.7%). "Such annual growth has not been observed for three years," according to estimates from Arcep.

A trend that owes much to the sustained deployment of end-to-end fiber optic lines by operators and players in the sector. More than 1.9 million additional premises were made connectable to FttH during the fourth quarter of 2020. "More than 5.8 million lines were deployed in 2020, despite the health situation, 19% more than in 2019," said the telecoms policeman.

Now, 24.2 million premises are eligible for FttH offers, an increase of 31% in one year. Most of this growth is located in medium-density areas - the AMII zone (Appel à Manifestation d'Intention d'Investissement). At the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, a total of 28.6 million premises were eligible for very high-speed broadband services, all technologies combined, including 21.7 million outside very dense areas.

While fiber deployment is progressing well, many homes and businesses are complaining about connectivity at half-mast. This is due to faulty maintenance or connections at sharing points, which generate numerous quality-of-service problems.
To remedy this, the operators have just concluded an agreement that could be a milestone in the sector. They are committed to improving the safety and quality of interventions with a new system of penalties.

The agreement, announced by Infranum, also provides for the collective assumption of the costs of restoring the network. This will slow down the explosion of "noodle dishes" overflowing the pooling points, which could eventually pose a major problem for the connectivity of individuals and professionals.

 Read the article

Source : ZDNet

InfraNum has just announced "a major agreement between operators to improve the quality of connections and guarantee the durability of fiber networks in France". The quality of the operations of connection to the optical fiber is currently under fire, the federation of digital infrastructure manufacturers is trying to reassure. A framework has therefore been put in place and will be set out in numerous agreements between access providers and network operators... some of which have yet to be signed.

For 18 months, infrastructure operators (RO) and commercial operators (CO) have been working together to draw up these new Stoc contracts (for commercial operator subcontracting). The aim is to improve an operating mode that everyone is keen to maintain: the Internet access provider (OC) connects its subscriber, as a subcontractor of the network operator (RO).

Indeed, in the face of the influx of demand, its defenders argue that this is the most efficient way to operate in order to make things happen quickly. But not to do well, retort the detractors of the Stoc mode denouncing degradation, connection failures or access cuts.

The Stoc mode is therefore striving to make its transformation, "to improve the quality and safety of interventions, the processes and speed of connection, and the training of those involved". InfraNum therefore announces that discussions between network operators and ISPs have led to progress in three areas:

• "Improving the safety and quality of interventions", with in particular the "realization of joint audits and the introduction of sanctions that can go as far as the exclusion of a subcontractor in case of contractual failure".
• "Increase transparency" through a system for monitoring interventions and "control by an artificial intelligence system" on the side of the network operator".
• "Rebalancing maintenance costs: between ROs and COs, collective coverage of network restoration costs, according to a distribution key approved by the Arcep".

While the industry federation assures that "the first signatures have already taken place for rapid generalization and immediate implementation," it concedes, however, that this "new contractual framework" has not yet been fully deployed.

For example, network operators Axione and Altitude Infra have signed "with the majority of OCs", while things are "on the right track" for TDF. On the other hand, there is nothing on the progress of discussions with Orange and SFR, which have the particularity of being both commercial operators and network operators, particularly in public and private initiative zones.

A little more patience therefore before this new major agreement is implemented in unison on all networks and between all operators and ISPs. The interest for stakeholders is that it "avoids imposing a regulatory decision". The Arcep is currently conducting a consultation on the subject.

 Read the article

Source : DegroupTest

The results published by Orange and Bouygues Telecom confirm the French people's enthusiasm for Very High Speed Internet. Both operators saw their number of FttH subscribers explode in the 4th quarter of 2020 with gains of 9% for the former and 16% for the latter.

The end of the year 2020 has never been so successful for the incumbent operator. With 388,000 additional fiber customers in the last three months of the year, Orange had 4.5 million FttH Internet subscribers. This also enables it to consolidate its number one position on fiber even though its runner-up, Free, has not yet published its results.

Act 2 of the confinement has finally convinced many French people of the need for a very high-speed Internet line to cope with the repetition of this type of situation. In this context, Orange fiber being the most available, with 22.9 million eligible premises at the end of the year, was unsurprisingly in great demand.

Bouygues Telecom remains one notch behind Orange, but also Free, in terms of the number of premises eligible for its FttH offers: 17.7 million at the end of 2020. That's still 6 million more in one year, which, combined with the containment effect and the fact that it is moving further afield, is no stranger to the impressive growth posted by the operator.

Indeed, the Bouygues group's telecom brand has grown from 1 million to 1.6 million fiber optic Internet customers in just one year. This represents a jump of 60%, to which the fourth quarter made a major contribution, with 226,000 FttH subscribers joining the ranks over the period.

In total, nearly 40% of the 4.2 million households that surf at Bouygues have optical fiber, a penetration rate similar to that of Orange and Free. With such a buoyant context for fiber, Iliad's brand should undoubtedly break records in the fourth quarter, and approach the symbolic milestone of 3 million fiber subscribers. Answer during its 2020 review, scheduled for next month.

 Read the article

Source : DegroupTest

France-IX is at the heart of Internet exchanges: peering. Presentation of the company, its regional mission in France, its community of about 400 member companies, its activities, its projects...

(Re)Discover the interview of Simon Muyal, France-IX's CTO, for DataCenter Magazine.

 Listen to the interview

Source : DataCenter Magazine

France-IX Lyon / Rezopole will meet you on February 05th for a morning dedicated to the improvement of BtoB Internet exchanges thanks to LyonIX and GrenobliX infrastructures.

Details will be detailed during this videoconference:
- the IXP part, which improves Internet exchanges between users in a territory, reduces telecom costs, and secures and optimizes the network thanks to the multiple routes offered.
- the NAP part, which provides connected members with direct access to the operators present and their offers. We buy or sell any type of Telecom service with great flexibility.

On the agenda

• General presentation
• What is an IXP/NAP?
  • How does it work?
  • Economic & technical advantages
•  The IXP / NAP of Lyon and Grenoble
  • Members
  • Offers & services
  • Connection solutions
• Events & Tools
• Questions & Answers

Useful information

• Schedule from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
• Link of the videoconference sent by email the day before the event

 Register

Rezopole will meet you on November 24th for a morning dedicated to the improvement of BtoB Internet exchanges thanks to LyonIX and GrenobliX infrastructures.

Details will be detailed during this videoconference:
- the IXP part, which improves Internet exchanges between users in a territory, reduces telecom costs, and secures and optimizes the network thanks to the multiple routes offered.
- the NAP part, which provides connected members with direct access to the operators present and their offers. We buy or sell any type of Telecom service with great flexibility.

On the agenda

• General presentation of Rezopole
• What is an IXP/NAP?
  • How does it work?
  • Economic & technical advantages
• LyonIX & GrenoblIX infrastructures
  • Rezopole members
  • Offers & services
  • Connection solutions
• Rezopole Events & Tools
• Questions & Answers

Useful information

• Schedule from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
• Link of the videoconference sent by email a few days before the event

 Register

Following the Government's announcements (COVID-19), the Rezopole office (16, rue de la Thibaudière 69007 Lyon) is closed until further notice.

As part of the continuity plan and in order to keep the various IXP / NAPs (LyonIX, GrenoblIX, AnnecIX & APIX) operational, the teams remain mobilized for teleworking and can be reached through the usual channels (email, telephone, videoconferencing).

We will keep you informed as to how to access and operate the various sites.

For Rezopole members with an urgent technical question, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call +33 4 27 46 00 55.

Remaining at your disposal.

The Rezopole team

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

+33 4 27 46 00 50

On October 8th, the Paris Court of Appeal ordered SFR to send a letter to certain subscribers informing them that they can unilaterally terminate their fixed Internet access contract. Capital tells us that if the operator resists, it will have to pay 500,000 euros for each day of delay.

This legal procedure was initiated in January 2018 by its competitor Free. Indeed, although a decree has regulated the use of the word fibre since 2016, SFR has continued to maintain a certain vagueness in its commercial offers.

It is also accused of using the term FttB (Fiber to the Building) since, in some cases, its fiber does not go all the way down to the bottom of the building but only into a street cabinet.

Today SFR claims to have 3.1 million end-to-end fibre optic customers (FttH) and 13.8 million lines eligible for Very High Speed broadband.

 Read the article

Source : 01net

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.

 Read the article

Source : L'Usine Digitale