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Articles tagged with: fibre optique

Optical fibre: 14 million subscribers in France

on Friday, 03 September 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Optical fibre: 14 million subscribers in France

Although the launch of the France Très Haut Débit plan in 2013 was slow, its acceleration has finally produced good results. Metropolitan France will not be covered by 2022, as was initially planned, and it will take until 2025 - or even 2030 - for some regions to be fully covered. However, the investments made in deployment work have enabled the country to make a good comeback in the European rankings. France is now ahead of the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy with an average speed of over 50 Mb/s.

 

These efforts have resulted in a significant increase in subscriptions, as France now has more than 14 million fibre-optic customers. The country will soon have more fibre subscribers than xDSL Internet customers.

Orange is by far the leading fibre optic Internet provider with over 5.2 million customers, ahead of SFR (3.6 million), Free (3.3 million) and Bouygues Telecom (1.9 million).

 

Moreover, the health crisis has only accentuated the need for the French to be able to rely on a reliable and efficient Internet connection. So much so that in the real estate sector, the connection of properties to the fibre optic network is becoming an increasingly important criterion for buyers.

 

The current challenge is in rural areas, where fibre optics are more expensive to deploy and less profitable. This is why the State and local authorities are obliged to get involved through the RIPs (public initiative networks) to accompany the rollouts carried out by the operators. This is why the recovery plan decreed to revive the economy after the stoppage linked to Covid-19 provides for some 570 million euros for the deployment of optical fibre.

 

 

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Source : Les Numériques

 

 

 

 

Fibre: work begins to improve connections

on Friday, 23 July 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Fibre: work begins to improve connections

On 20 July, the operators submitted their plan of attack to improve the quality of connections to the government. For the French Federation of Telecoms (FFT), there is no question of letting these malfunctions damage the image of fibre and hinder its deployment in the short and medium term.

This opinion is shared by all telecom stakeholders. "Good quality [of connections] is essential to ensure the operation of FttH networks under good conditions, to ensure their sustainability and to limit the additional costs associated with recovery or reinstatement work," Arcep points out. The same is true of operators, who regret that damage to network infrastructure, whether deliberate or not, does not harm their image or that of fibre.

 

Last May, the infrastructure operators had already made a series of commitments to improve the quality of connections by changing the subcontracting contract (STOC mode) that governs the market. Now it is the turn of commercial operators to tackle the problem head on. In this white paper, they propose various ways to put an end to "noodle dishes".

In addition to training their field staff, the operators also advocate the widespread use of a new form of engineering within shared cabinets. This new architecture, known as the "M" shape, "makes cross-connection more fluid and intuitive, thanks to a colour code for the paths". The latter are thus campaigning for the generalisation of this system on a national scale.

In addition, and in order to allow for a better audit of connections already made, the operators wish to generalise a new type of photographic report, "which provides for time-stamped photos to be taken before and after each intervention, making it possible to control the quality of the work carried out by the participants and to rapidly detect the appearance of defects". Launched at the beginning of the year, the tool nevertheless suffers from a few limitations: "the controller's inability, whether human or mechanised based on artificial intelligence, to ensure that the optical positions occupied are in accordance with what is planned". This is a major shortcoming, as it is common for this malfunction to lead to bottlenecks in the cabinets.

The operators also want to rely on an interoperator application, called "e-Mutation", which aims to help technicians improve their visibility of the lightpaths used in a given cabinet. They also announced the forthcoming launch of an interoperators IT tool to track a fault from notification to resolution.

The last point concerns the National Address Database (BAN), a public database that aims to reference the address of all premises in France. The database, which can be used in the form of an API by operators, has been criticised for its shortcomings, particularly in rural areas. "It is essential that local authorities quickly acquire a complete address database," explain the operators, who rely on this information in their connection operations.

 

Will this put an end to the proliferation of noodle dishes? At least that is what the operators are hoping for. Especially since the timing is critical for the adoption of fibre, while the rollout of very high speed broadband continues in all directions in metropolitan France. Fibre professionals expect to deploy 6.2 million sockets in 2021. This should exceed the government's objectives in this area, with forecasts of 87% of homes connected to fibre in 2022, instead of the 80% initially desired by the public authorities.

 

 

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Source : ZDnet

 

 

 

 

Researchers break fibre optic throughput record

on Friday, 16 July 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Researchers break fibre optic throughput record

Japanese researchers at NIICT have succeeded in transferring data at a rate of 319 terabits per second over more than 3 km. More importantly, their technology is compatible with modern fibre optic networks.

 

However, this performance is not dependent on a revolutionary new material; it is based on the same fibre optic technology already present in our infrastructure. Instead of using a single fibre channel, the research team relied on a technique called wavelength-division multiplexing, or WMD.

The idea is based on a combination of several fibre optic 'cores'. This means that the signal can be distributed to different bands at the same time. This avoids having a single fibre carry the entire load, which in particular generates interference.

 

To achieve this record speed, the Japanese researchers used an optical fibre with four 'cores', and made use of a third 'highway' for the signal; in addition to the two usually used in this type of application, they also used the S-band. They also subjected the signal to two new types of amplification, before undergoing the normal amplification process.

 

What makes this work so disturbing is its practical feasibility. The outer diameter of the team's proposed fibres is exactly the same as that of a standard fibre optic cable. This has a major implication. In order to switch from current networks to this type of technology, there would be no need to replace the entire infrastructure; the new one is already compatible with the old one.

 

Of course, there are technologies that can go much higher, but this technology is only usable in niche cases. The NIICT technology, on the other hand, is directly applicable to the current network.

For the researchers, this very important feature "demonstrates the potential of standard compatibility fibres in the short-term implementation of very high speed fibre networks". Incredible as it may seem, the speeds to which we have access today may seem ridiculous much sooner than we think!

 

 

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Source : Journal du Geek

 

 

 

 

Equinix launches submarine cable under the Manche

on Friday, 16 July 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Equinix launches submarine cable under the Manche

On 13th July, Equinix announced the launch of a new international fibre optic cable project under the Manche. The network, called CrossChannel Fibre, will connect Equinix's London and Paris centres via landing stations in Brighton and Veules-les-Roses. It will be operational from the end of 2021.

 

"The 520-kilometre cable has 96 fibre pairs, will offer more than 20 Tbits per fibre pair, and will have the lowest latency of any network connecting London and Paris," boasts Equinix management, who also note that this is the first submarine fibre optic cable laying project in the English Channel for nearly 20 years.

 

This new project allows Equinix to continue to expand its network in France. To this end, the company recently signed a major partnership with Terralpha, the SNCF Réseau subsidiary responsible for developing the carrier's very high-speed network in France. The agreement will allow all companies hosted in Equinix data centres to use the 20,000 km of fibre optic cable running along the SNCF Réseau rail network.

 

The data centre operator expects to increase its turnover by 10 to 11% in 2021, thanks to the expansion of its data centre network and its cloud services.

 

 

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Source : ZDNet

 

 

 

 

Terralpha lights 20,000 km of new fibre in France

on Friday, 25 June 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Terralpha lights 20,000 km of new fibre in France

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

 

 

 

 

Fibre: connection professionals make a commitment

on Friday, 28 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Fibre: connection professionals make a commitment

It is now the turn of the professionals in charge of connection to commit themselves to solving the problem posed by the lack of maintenance or connection to the fibre. They have committed, through the signing of a charter of good practice, to put an end to what the public authorities see as a major obstacle to the adoption of fibre in the country.

 

A series of commitments including that of limiting themselves to a single level of subcontracting, "with particular attention to the status and qualifications" of the subcontractors employed.

This is a challenge given that "cascading" subcontracting is often blamed for defects in the quality of connections. The signatory companies of this charter, representing 70% of the sector's players, have also undertaken to encourage the use of local employment and to support the training of their employees through the implementation of actions dedicated to initial training or skills upgrading.

These include Axians, Circet, Constructel, Eiffage, ENGIE Solutions, Firalp, NGE Infranet, SADE Télécom, Groupe Scopelec, SNEF Télécom, Sogetrel, Solutions30 and SPIE CityNetworks.

 

Commercial operators and infrastructure operators such as Altitude Infra, Axione, Orange, TDF and XpFibre had already committed themselves at the beginning of March to a new subcontracting framework contract (also known as STOC mode, for "Sous-Traitance Opérateur Commercial") in order to put an end to these repeated abuses which are poisoning the lives of users.

 

Unfortunately, this problem is not new. Indeed, a working group set up by Arcep on the subject already reported in 2019 on "significant rates of malfunctions in the execution of final connection and cross-connection operations at the mutualisation point".

It cited three main difficulties to be resolved in order to put an end to the proliferation of "noodle dishes": repeated non-compliance with the rules on cross-connection at the point of mutualisation, defects in the routes taken by the optical fibre which can lead to traffic jams at the optical connection points, and various acts of vandalism at the points of mutualisation.

 

 

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Source : ZDnet

 

 

 

 

Orange will maintain the quality of the copper network

on Friday, 28 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Orange will maintain the quality of the copper network

After long negotiations, the government and Orange have just agreed on an action plan to improve the quality of service of the copper network. Indeed, even if the deployment of optical fibre is progressing rapidly, the 22 million French people who still have an active line based on this network must not be overlooked.

 

The plan therefore provides for an additional 10 million euros to be committed to 17 priority territories, as well as 123 new posts in departments under pressure and a 30% increase in national crisis response staff.

 

The incumbent operator will have to provide a back-up solution within a maximum of 24 hours from the time the incident is reported, provided there is mobile coverage. If the mobile network is not sufficient, a satellite connection will be made available from the town halls.

 

Local consultation committees will be set up to improve consultation between Orange and elected representatives. A national consultation committee will also include representatives of the Commission Supérieure du Numérique et des Postes (CSNP), representatives of associations of local authorities and government departments.

 

It should be remembered that the total dismantling of the copper network will begin in 2023 and will extend until 2030, as fibre optic coverage of the territory progresses.

 

 

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Source : 01net

 

 

 

 

Fibre professionals aim for new deployment records in 2021

on Thursday, 20 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Fibre professionals aim for new deployment records in 2021

At a conference organised to present a dedicated barometer produced by Infranum, representatives of the fibre industry and the authorities had reason to be pleased. Indeed, the sector should once again reach a milestone in 2021 with the deployment of 6.2 million connections during the year.

The fibre players have even allowed themselves the luxury of exceeding the government's objectives with forecasts of 87% of homes connected to fibre in 2022 instead of the 80% initially desired by the public authorities.

 

If the year 2020 had already seen the sector break all records for connections, with 5.8 million sockets installed, the current year is looking even better. And it is on the public initiative networks (RIP) that the sector's professionals have chosen to focus in 2021. Of the 6.2 million outlets expected in 2021, 3.6 million will be located in RIP zones, compared with 1.8 million in AMII zones, 0.5 million in very dense zones and 0.4 million in AMEL zones.

 

A slowdown is planned for 2022 with the deployment of 5.8 million sockets, the majority of which will still be installed in RIP zones. The result is that while 40.6 million homes will have fibre optic access by 2025, there will still be 6.5 million outlets to be installed between now and 2025 in order to complete the networks.

And this is where the problem lies: "if there are "only" 6.5 million outlets left to be deployed by 2025, these will be the most difficult", emphasise the industry's representatives.

And to point out that 2.1 million premises, i.e. the last 5%, will necessarily have to be financed via substantial public aid... Worse still, 3% of this "remainder to be deployed" will not be able to be deployed, due to technical and financial constraints. "For these homes, it will be necessary to study other avenues, such as satellite internet," says Infranum, which sees the launch of new satellite offers as an increasingly credible alternative for achieving the objective of very high speed broadband for all.

 

In order to achieve 100% of homes with fibre over the next decade, the sector's professionals are calling for the implementation of a universal fibre service.

But there are also other pitfalls in the provision of high-speed broadband for all. Starting with the quality of connections, where the average failure rate of connections is currently between 20 and 25%. And although the representatives of the sector and the public authorities made commitments a few weeks ago to combat the spread of "noodle dishes" in civil engineering cabinets or within buildings, the result will not be immediate.

Among the burning issues for the sector is also that of employment. What is to be done with the professionals involved in the connection process once it is completed? This question will continue to be asked in the years to come, especially as the sector has recruited 9,700 new employees in 2020, instead of the 5,500 announced last year, and plans to recruit 5,500 in 2021, rather than 1,500.

 

"Three points must focus our efforts: the transition from copper to fibre, improving the quality of connections and anticipating the post-2021 period, particularly with regard to employment," conceded Cédric O...., the Secretary of State for the Digital Sector, on Tuesday, while welcoming the work carried out so far, noting that "the figures are very good, but we must continue this collective work, because there are still challenges to be met.

 

 

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Source : ZDnet

 

 

 

 

5G: EIB to lend EUR 350 million to Bouygues Telecom

on Friday, 07 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

5G: EIB to lend EUR 350 million to Bouygues Telecom

This financing agreement is the first of its kind between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the French operator. The aim is to support the deployment of Bouygues Telecom's 5G network, "including in rural areas", and to increase its mobile radio network capacity "fourfold" by 2026, the EIB said in a statement.

 

Bouygues Telecom plans to invest €1.5 billion in the rollout of its 4G and 5G networks and in the fibre market, where the operator plans to win over 3 million additional customers. The group hopes to increase its subscription revenues by at least 40% over the next five years while increasing its profitability.

"Bouygues Telecom has great ambitions for mobile and 5G in the years to come and wants to help open up regions by reducing the digital divide. The European Union Bank's support for this vast industrial project is a validation of our choices and confirms the relevance of our strategy," said the operator's deputy CEO Christian Lecoq, quoted in the press release.

 

 

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Source : Le Figaro

 

 

 

 

Fibre optic failures: also the fault of subscribers?

on Friday, 23 April 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Fibre optic failures: also the fault of subscribers?

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

 

 

 

 

SFR FttH transforms itself and becomes "Xp Fibre

on Friday, 02 April 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

SFR FttH transforms itself and becomes

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

 

 

 

 

Free challenges Orange with an offer for professionals

on Friday, 26 March 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Free challenges Orange with an offer for professionals

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

 

 

 

 

First dismantling of Orange ADSL

on Friday, 26 March 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

First dismantling of Orange ADSL

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

 

 

 

 

Fiber: commercial operators called to order

on Friday, 19 March 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Fiber: commercial operators called to order

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

 

 

 

 

Operators exceed 10 million FttH subscriptions

on Friday, 05 March 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Operators exceed 10 million FttH subscriptions

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.

 

 

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Source : ZDNet

 

 

 

 

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