SNCF Réseau's new subsidiary, Terralpha, has arrived to market the bandwidth offered by the more than 20,000 km of fibre that snake through mainland France under the train tracks. As the fibres are pulled from town to town, they do not suffer from the slowdowns caused by the connections that operators put on each branch line.

In addition, this fibre network provides a national alternative to the network of the four major operators. The 2,000 alternative operators will now be able to interconnect a head office in Lille with its branch in Marseille, without having to wait for weeks for authorisation, without having to pay the high price imposed by their national competitor. And, above all, with better latency.

These more than 20,000 kilometres of fibre were already available for hire. But it was a case-by-case process: Since SNCF Réseau only provides 100 Gbit/s links, it was up to its customer to install a router at each end to carry its traffic. And apart from the major operators, no one knew how to install a router on these fibres.

To connect, Terralpha chose to partner with the Telehouse chain of colocation data centres. "Our strategy is to be present in the telecom marketplaces. That is to say, in the rooms reserved for the interconnections of operators in the data centres. The most important ones are on the TH2 campus of Telehouse in Paris, which brings together 300 telecom operators," argues Gabriel Chenevoy, Terralpha's CEO.

Especially since TH2 has a state-of-the-art computer system that monitors the 50,000 fibres running through its operator rooms one by one. The curvature and path of each fibre would be carefully studied.

Apart from Orange and SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Iliad are also starting to sell bandwidth on their national networks to alternative operators. Kosc was previously the only independent infrastructure operator through which local providers could offer national connectivity to their customers. It is therefore the one that Terralpha is now competing with. After financial setbacks, Kosc was finally bought out a year ago by Altitude Infrastructure, an ex-alternative operator that has refocused its activity on fibre installation.

Although Altitude Infrastructure enjoys a good image with local authorities, its challenge remains to link together fibre segments scattered over the territory. This is where Terralpha claims to have a head start.

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Source : Le Mag IT

In an interview with La Gazette Val d'Oise, Rachid Adda, director of Val-d'Oise Numérique, the union in charge of deploying fibre in the department, believes that "some individuals should stop changing operators every six months, to benefit from the cheapest subscription". According to him, "this mania for changing subscriptions represents up to 40% in certain districts" and would contribute to the current situation. He stressed that "breakdowns on the network only represent 5%".

Rachid Adda denounced the precariousness of the workers at the end of the chain. "The operator pays a subcontractor for interventions. But the subcontractor himself calls in another technician whom he pays less, while pocketing the operator's commission. This low-cost technician intervenes for 30 to 50 euros. He therefore needs to carry out a maximum number of repairs. That's why I am indignant about the outsourcing of interventions", he explains.

The director of Val-d'Oise Numérique also deplores the problem of the skills of the people working in the field: "It only takes 10% of the technicians to be poorly trained for the operation to fail".

It also denounces bad practices in the field. While the network is oversized, with, for example, a box containing 12 connections for 10 homes and 10 metres of optical fibre inside to leave room for manoeuvre in the case of repairs, some subcontractors would go as close as possible, even if it meant saturating a box, or would not warn when they had exhausted the available room for manoeuvre. Rachid Adda also reports a greater incidence for ground floor subscribers in buildings and explains: "the technician prefers to connect the subscriber on the 3ᵉ to the one on the ground floor, so as not to have to go upstairs". Another case: connections during inclement weather. "Some people, very often in winter, do not try to open a new line from the cabinet. They simply connect the subscriber to another subscriber... who they then disconnect," he says.

The director of Val-d'Oise Numérique also mentions the case of cabinets that have to be refurbished because of the numerous interventions, or even changed because of acts of vandalism. "A cabinet repair costs 100,000 euros. We do two a year. Recently, we changed three in six months in the same municipality," he explains.

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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

On March 23th, Free announced its commercial offers for businesses: Free Pro. This offer is aimed at very small businesses, SMEs, but also local authorities and individual entrepreneurs who do not have the resources to buy services from competitors.

Free Pro will provide professionals with a 100% fiber-optic 10 EPON Freebox, featuring tri-band WiFi combined with a repeater. In order to guarantee an Internet connection even in the event of a power cut, this box has an external 4G modem and is based on both Free's fiber network and that of Jaguar Network. It also has a NAS function that allows you to save up to 200 GB of data in the cloud, WiFi 5 and standard WPA3 protection.

Free hopes to make a difference thanks to the supposed reliability of its hardware: the box is equipped with a dedicated OS that is capable of self-diagnosis thanks to AI. The operator also pledges to provide online assistance within eight hours with dedicated support based in France. The offer includes two fixed lines, with unlimited calls to mobiles in France and in more than 100 destinations around the world, as well as an unlimited 4G/5G mobile package.

The operator is also taking the opportunity to launch a mobile offer for professionals, which is not really different from its general public offer. For €19.99/month, you get 150 GB of 4G/5G data, 25 GB of roaming from more than 70 destinations and unlimited calls to mobiles and landlines to more than 100 international destinations. The subtlety is its customer service dedicated to professionals, accessible 7 days a week from 7am to 8pm, with a commitment to obtain a response within eight hours.

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Source : Journal du Geek

In Lévis Saint Nom, in the Yvelines department, a team of Orange technicians is working to remove the overhead copper lines in the town. This experiment should prepare the great operation of "decommissioning" of copper that will concern the whole country from 2023.

Drawn from the sixties and especially in the seventies, copper lines have brought telephone service to the French. They then allowed access to the Internet via ADSL technology in the late 90s. In December 2020, Arcep still counted 16 million households using ADSL. A figure that will decline inexorably due to the effect of fiber optic connections. Indeed, the government has set itself the goal of connecting everyone to FttH by 2025.

It was therefore becoming difficult to maintain this aging network, which is energy-intensive and expensive to maintain. With 22.6 million lines still active and 1.1 million cables, 60% of which are in underground trenches, this is a titanic undertaking.

Orange, the historical owner of the copper network, has signed an agreement with Arcep to conduct dismantling tests.

"We chose Lévis Saint Nom to begin with because of its 1,600 inhabitants, its 700 homes and the fact that there are few businesses. This typology is representative of 80% of the communes in France," explains Laurence Thouveny, Director of Orange Île-de-France.

When the "decommissioning" process began in June 2020, there were still 120 copper customers in the commune. Each commercial operator then had to convince its customers to switch to fiber with the guarantee, for those using only the telephone, to have similar tariff offers. Eight subscribers are still clinging to copper, but on March 31, whatever happens, Orange will cut everything.

"There is no technical difficulty with stopping copper. The main issue is to accompany customers and contact them one by one to propose alternative offers," summarizes the technical director and information systems of Orange Marc Blanchet.

The extinction of copper has only just begun and should not be completed before 2030. This long process will be carried out in patches, zone by zone, with extremely long lead times of several years.

Finally, the disappearance of copper does not mean the end of the fixed telephone, which will be able to continue to function via optical fiber, without any obligation to subscribe to an Internet service.

After Lévis Saint Nom, two other cities will be chosen in the coming weeks to continue the experiment.

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Source : 01net

Arcep has just given its position on the quality of fiber connections. The verdict: although the split of the fiber connection sector between infrastructure operators and commercial operators has allowed a "massive acceleration" of the deployment of fiber in France, it has also led to abuses. As illustrated by the "noodle dishes" that too often overflow from civil engineering cabinets.

Indeed, for the French telecom regulator, even if the door is open to all commercial operators who request it in order to improve competition and to pull prices down, they must continue to prioritize quality over quantity.

And the STOC mode is particularly in the line of fire of the Authority. It reminds that "In this respect, the decision of Arcep is very clear: the regulatory framework fully allows an infrastructure operator to suspend the access of a commercial operator to the STOC mode in case of repeated failure on its part to comply with reasonable technical specifications and the rules of the art".

The problem of the final connection is not new. But in order to face the increasing number of reports and the rise of dissatisfaction, Infranum has just announced a major agreement between infrastructure operators and commercial operators. The operators have committed to improving the safety and quality of interventions, by reinforcing contractual procedures for the recovery of defects and by carrying out joint audits between infrastructure operators and commercial operators.

The agreement announced by Infranum provides for the collective assumption of network repair costs, according to a distribution key approved by Arcep, whereas the law stipulates that only the infrastructure operator is responsible for the proper functioning and maintenance of fiber optic connection equipment. The new framework is also accompanied by a more drastic penalty regime that can go as far as the exclusion of a subcontractor in the event of a contractual breach.

This is enough to satisfy Arcep, for whom "the current situation is difficult to understand". And to call for the commitments made by Infranum to be signed by all the stakeholders in the sector. And to remind that "these networks will be the reference fixed infrastructure for the next decades".

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Source : ZDnet

The hot topic at the end of this year in the HSBB ecosystem: the quality of subscribers' connections to fiber optic networks. This is why the Objectif Fibre platform, which brings together the various organizations representing the sector, has published a practical connection guide, intended for "all the players involved, from near or far, in the deployment of FttH".

Listing good practices according to the (many) cases encountered in the field, this document provides "the technical recommendations applicable in each situation encountered and which have been agreed upon by professionals in the sector". The objective is to "do it right the first time" but also to aim for "homogeneity throughout the country".

The guide is addressed both to technicians and to all the actors concerned (principals, operators, engineering and design departments, training organizations or real estate actors) in order to guarantee the success of the interventions but also to prevent the resumption of work which can prove to be expensive or to be used as technical support of reference in the event of litigation.

"It's a whole ecosystem [...] that will be reconciled with a totally shared know-how," says Cédric O in the foreword to the guide. For his part, Sébastien Soriano writes in the preface that this "capital document represents an accomplishment for the entire sector towards greater harmonization and quality".

The president of the Arcep also considers that "it is essential for the durability of the networks that the operators reinforce the controls of their subcontractors in the course of their interventions". A reminder to infrastructure and commercial operators, who are currently discussing an amendment to their subcontracting contracts in order to implement this reinforced control, with the hope of achieving this by the end of the year...

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Source : DegroupTest

After ten months of proceedings, the Arcep ruled in favor of Bouygues Telecom regarding the wholesale prices charged by SFR FTTH to other national or regional operators. The latter are grafting themselves onto SFR's optical fiber network in the countryside in order to be able to offer this technology in areas where their own networks are less developed.

The Arcep was seized last January by Martin Bouygues' operator, after a price increase on the SFR side. Indeed, to access a "package" of SFR lines, operators had to pay 5.80 euros per line and per month, compared to 5.48 euros for Orange. Line rental prices had increased to 16.40 euros per month and per line.

SFR FTTH was able to increase its prices because, when it comes to optical fiber, only Orange's rates are regulated. For its part, Bouygues Telecom demanded two things: a return to the rates in effect before the February 1, 2020 increase and a reduction in line rental prices, with a range of 12.20 euros to 13.20 euros.

The regulator ruled in its favor on these two issues. SFR will therefore have to offer Bouygues Telecom an amendment to the contract to restore the old rates within one month. As regards line rental, SFR is required to propose a new tariff to Bouygues not to exceed 13.20 euros per month and per line.

This is a real setback for SFR, which by the end of 2018 had sold half of its fiber optic network in the three-fund campaigns. The latter had paid a very high price for this asset, no doubt enticed by the promise of high and long-term rental revenues.

But two years later, the operator had to lower its prices. In addition to this, Free has also filed a complaint with the Arcep on the same subject.

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Source : Les Échos

The alternative operator has just announced that it has raised more than €500 million in equity and junior debt from a pension fund to ensure the deployment of a fibre optic network and the recovery of Kosc.

Subject to approval by the regulatory and competition authorities, these two transactions are expected to be finalised in the fourth quarter of 2020. "These two transactions demonstrate our ambition in the fibre market in France and beyond. In a context of sector consolidation, these investments will enable us to pursue our growth strategy with the aim of strengthening our position as the leading independent operator", said David Elfassy, President of Altitude Infrastructures.

The takeover of Kosc should now enable Altitude Infrastructure to develop its addressable customer base in very dense and moderately dense areas, where the bulk of the Wholesale-only operator's business is located, which claims around ten million eligible outlets in these areas.

The alternative infrastructure operator is also planning a massive investment of 100 million euros over five years in Kosc. With this new fund raising, this welcome injection of capital now has all the green lights. As a reminder, the plan proposed by Altitude Infrastructure would enable Kosc to aim for a return to a positive Ebitda and a turnover of between 80 and 100 million euros in 2022.

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Source : ZDNet

For 18 months now, the Association of Local Authorities for Digital Technology Avicca, the federation of industrialists InfraNum and the France THD Mission have been working on the overhaul of the Grace THD data exchange format. A revised and corrected "v3" that will become the future standard for public fibre optic networks.

The promises of Grace THD V3: "the harmonisation and standardisation of data exchange practices between private and public players" are one of the conditions for "industrialising deployments". In order to meet the objectives of the France THD Plan, the ambition is to return as soon as possible to 2019 production rates.

This common frame of reference also aims at enabling local authorities to constitute a reliable and exploitable base for their public initiative networks.

A recommendation of the France THD Plan, accompanied by an application guide, will help promote the adoption of this model. Thus, "the France THD Mission recommends to all local authorities to migrate to GraceTHD v3" in the operational phase. While in the deployment phase, "the migration will be decided by the local authority under the aegis of the MTHD, after consultation with the local and national private stakeholders concerned".

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Source : DegroupNews