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Articles tagged with: plan france thd

Optical fibre: France will succeed

on Friday, 08 October 2021 Posted in News Rezopole

Optical fibre: France will succeed

"The objective will be met: to bring very high speed broadband to 100% of French people by the end of 2022, 80% of which will be fibre - probably more," said Cédric O, the Secretary of State for Digital Affairs.

 

After a decade of work and more than 20 billion euros invested, the figures prove him right. Indeed, two thirds of French households were eligible for fibre optics last spring. With a current rate of 15,000 new homes and businesses seeing fibre arrive on their doorstep every day, the 80% mark will be passed by the first half of 2022.

For French people not covered, there is an alternative solution offering speeds of over 100 Mb/s: VDSL, cable or, soon, satellite - thanks to the commissioning of Eutelsat's very powerful Konnect VHTS.

 

The gamble has therefore been successful nine years after the launch of the "France Very High Speed Plan". Especially since the objectives have been raised: the estimated total number of households in France has risen from 36 million in 2013 to 41 million in 2022, without lowering the 80% mark. And that there was no shortage of difficulties: shortage of raw materials, shortage of manpower, stoppage of construction sites at the start of the pandemic, etc.

 

The work still needs to be finished, because even in large cities, around 10% of homes are still without fibre optics. In medium-sized towns, the situation is not satisfactory either. They were supposed to be fully covered by fibre by the end of 2020. Six months after the deadline, only four out of five homes were eligible. The government and Arcep are passing the quid on a possible sanction, but a certain annoyance is perceptible on the part of the authorities. As for the countryside, fibre is being rolled out at breakneck speed. But they are not fully covered by the projects already launched. About 2 million homes are still in limbo. These lines, the most complicated to build and the least profitable, will require new subsidies.

 

Through the stimulus package, the government has already put €150 million on the table. The industry estimates that at least two to three times more will be needed. An evaluation mission should be made public at the end of the year. We will then know how much the next executive will have to invest if it wants to bring fibre to 100% of French people.

 

 

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Source : Les Echos

 

 

 

 

France is worried about its networksairport refusals

on Friday, 27 November 2020 Posted in Archives Rezopole

France is worried about its networksairport refusals

Over the past two or three years, the acceleration in fiber deployment has been clear, but the hardest part remains to be done: connecting the least dense areas of the territory. Despite the government's efforts - generalization of fiber by 2025 by mobilizing nearly 300 million euros to support the latest projects not yet funded - the account is not there. The reason: to serve scattered housing or isolated businesses, the cost of so-called long connections is very high and for some, it may even be prohibitive.

 

The answer must emerge from "negotiations with the various local authorities on the financing of their projects, with major demands that may not be able to be met exactly," explains Cédric O. Indeed, the Secretary of State wants "to match needs and subsidies to achieve the goal of 100% fiber in 2025. For the specifications, we'll see afterwards".

 

Non-standard connections are also available in less dense areas of private initiative. The question of the effective availability of fiber arises for homes and businesses that are isolated and/or difficult to serve. This is the case in the AMII zone, where Orange and SFR's commitment was to make 100% of premises connectable by the end of 2020. Including 8% on request because they are considered more complex to serve or not a priority.

If the health crisis has pushed back the deadline for these commitments, they will finally be reached in 2021 according to Nicolas Guérin, Secretary General of the French Federation of Telecoms. For Arcep, it is the responsibility of the State to ensure this. For Sébastien Soriano, President of the Regulatory Authority, "no worries" about SFR's compliance with the deadlines. However, he believes that there is "a landing point to be built with Orange".

A common ground could be found on the launch of offers for premises that can be connected on demand. This would enable a little over one million homes and businesses "set aside" during the initial deployment schedule to be connected within six months of the order being placed with an access provider. Nicolas Guérin, also Orange's General Secretary, explains that after having made massive deployment, the incumbent operator is now able to "move to a more qualitative deployment".

On the Arcep side, where "procedures are under way" to gauge operators' compliance with completeness rules, we are waiting to see if these offers will enable us to respond to the problems identified. In any case, Sébastien Soriano considers it desirable that these on-demand connection offers should first arrive in areas that have been scheduled for more than five years - and sometimes much longer - and where 100% of the premises are not yet connectable.

 

The question of the durability of the FttH networks also arises, particularly concerning the connection in Stoc mode. Access providers want to connect their customers themselves. While network operators are not against this, they are concerned about connection failures and the damage this causes. Both parties are not desperate to find new agreements before the end of the year, in order to clarify the responsibilities of each party.

All of this is under the watchful eye of the communities that own the public-initiative networks. If it is not surprising to hear elected officials thundering against the Stoc mode; it is more surprising to see a member of the government raising his voice on this very operational issue. "It's not possible," Cédric O. hammered out, "We are in the process of ruining what we are achieving" by strongly encouraging those concerned to solve the problem: "Either we know how to solve it intelligently between people of good will, or the State will have to make more complicated decisions, even if it means causing inconveniences in the system".

Stakeholders therefore no longer seem to have much leeway to save the Stoc mode. And to achieve this, the representative federations - InfraNum for the networks, the FTT for the operators - need to get around the table, thus pleading the case of several players in the ecosystem. This is also the opinion of Benoît Loutrel, commissioned by the French Secretary of State for the Digital Economy to study "securing the deployment and operating conditions for FttH networks". His task will be to re-examine the France THD program. The report he will produce in a year's time will "not be intended to put pressure on this or that actor, but rather to problematize and find a method", warns the interested party. It will propose ways to "transfer learning feedback" between territories, to "organize the interplay between public authorities and industry", and finally to "anticipate the resilience of networks".

 

On this last point, while burying is a common sense choice in the West Indies, it is no less relevant in metropolitan France.Climate risks also weigh on an air deployment that is anything but marginal, argues the Bank of the Territories. As part of its recovery plan, it plans to allocate additional resources to support local authorities in their landfill projects and secure access to major network sites. To this end, a call for projects will be launched in 2021.

 

 

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Source : DegroupTest

 

 

 

 

Fibre: France

on Friday, 10 July 2020 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Fibre: France

France would have gained 1.9 million subscribers and 3.5 million households connected to FttH or FttB in 2019. According to the think tank Idate, which carries out an annual study for the Council of Europe on FttH, this would be the strongest growth in Europe.

 

These good results are due to the determination of the France Très Haut Débit Plan, which aims to reach 100% of households with access to very high-speed broadband by the end of 2022.

A total of 57.1% of French subscribers were eligible for FttH or FttB in 2019. This is more than in Germany or the United Kingdom but less than in Italy, Spain, Norway and Lithuania.

France now ranks 16ᵉ in the European rankings for fibre subscriptions, with just over 25% of subscribers subscribing to FttH or FttB.

 

However, the figures for France do not really agree with those of Arcep. The regulatory authority only takes FttH into account when talking about optical fiber. In 2019, it counted 4.8 million additional premises connected and 2.3 million FttH subscriptions.

 

 

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Source : 01Net

 

 

 

 

A common language for fibre optic networks

on Thursday, 25 June 2020 Posted in Archives Rezopole

A common language for fibre optic networks

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

 

 

 

 

Fibre: the industry calls on the government for help

on Thursday, 02 April 2020 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Fibre: the industry calls on the government for help

With the coronavirus crisis, the France Very High Speed Internet Plan, which aims to offer all French people a high-speed fixed Internet connection by 2022, is under threat. This huge project has indeed slowed down considerably with the containment measures.

The president of InfraNum, Étienne Dugas, warns: "If nothing is done, everything could stop within two weeks." At the end of the line, a lot of small and medium-sized companies could fall. Beyond the economic and social breakdown, he estimates that it will take months to restructure the sector and thus relaunch the machine once the epidemic is over.

 

To avoid such a scenario, Étienne Dugas believes it is essential to maintain fibre deployment activity at the current level. He therefore requested the support of the executive last April 1st during a meeting between representatives of the Telecoms sector and the ministers in charge of Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities.

 

Both InfraNum and the French Telecommunications Federation (FFT) consider it essential that the government publish its Covid-19 guide for the construction industry as soon as possible in order to provide a framework enabling workers deploying fibre to work in safety. Especially since according to InfraNum and the FFT the FFP1 protective masks are sufficient.

 

Another concern of the industrialists is that many subcontractors can no longer work due to a lack of agreement from the communities. While others have difficulty accessing buildings to connect them to the fibre. Infranum is therefore asking the government to take steps to remove these obstacles.

 

Finally, an appeal has been launched to provide financial assistance to the fibre industry to keep the most fragile subcontractors afloat. According to Étienne Dugas, the major operators must also "make an effort to enable the sector to survive this tsunami."

Asked about this, the CEO of the FFT, Michel Combot, emphasizes that "the crisis has an impact on the turnover of operators." According to him, Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom are considering ways to support their own chains of subcontractors. "Discussions are underway. Operators could take different types of measures, such as efforts on payment deadlines. We are well aware of our global responsibility."

 

 

 

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Source : La Tribune

 

 

 

 

Deputies: last resort of the France THD Plan

on Thursday, 19 December 2019 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Deputies: last resort of the France THD Plan

An exceptional success for FttH deployments in public initiative areas, the France THD Plan was designed to equip homes in the most fragile areas (rural, mountain and island) with optical fibre. It thus unifies the technical conditions for deployment throughout the national territory.

 

Covering 100% of the territory by 2025 is a prerequisite for the competitiveness of the French economy within the European Union. Successive governments have supported this ambition by providing significant financial assistance on an equal basis with communities. A balance that has now been broken...

Indeed, the National Conference of Territories in December 2017 marked the weakening of the France THD Plan: the closure of the FSN window, public aid of 3 to 5 billion to private operators as part of the "New Deal Mobile", the abolition of €100 million in subsidies to local authorities...

 

The government's announcement of the reopening of the window on 15 October 2019 was not accompanied by any realistic budget projection to finalize this critical infrastructure project.

The State persists on the figure of €140 million while the estimated needs are 4 to 5 times higher. The Senate's proposals to supplement with €322 million in commitment appropriations were rejected. After the failure of the Joint Joint Committee, Members of Parliament are therefore the last resort of local authorities.

The elected representatives' associations therefore invite the deputies to pay attention to Article 38 - State B of the Mission économique proposed in the second part of the text and to oppose any amendment that would delete this essential provision from the draft Finance Act.

 

 

 

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Source : Avicca

 

 

 

 

When will the white zones end?

on Tuesday, 14 August 2018 Posted in Archives Rezopole, Archives GrenoblIX, Archives LyonIX

When will the white zones end?

Among more than 35,000 municipalities in France, 541 still have no access to the Internet, even though it is now a necessity. The government has therefore set itself the goal of "getting rid of these white areas" by announcing broadband and very high speed access for all by 2022. Things seem to be moving in this direction with the "new mobile deal" concluded between the State and ARCEP to accelerate mobile coverage of territories or the compromise between SFR and Orange on the development of fibre in less dense areas.

Arnaud Bousquet proposes to review this digital divide in the 31th July radio programme Le téléphone sonne on France Inter. To answer the Internet question, mobile telephony: when will the white zones end? he receives Martine Lombard, member of the ARCEP college, Michel Combot, Director General of the Fédération Française des Télécoms and Sébastien Dufromentel, secretary of the Fédération FDN.

 

 

Listen to the show

 

 

The white zone concept only concerned mobile telephony and currently represents only 1% of the territory. Today, it also includes Internet access. To enable everyone to access this technology, more than 20 billion euros will be invested in the France Très Haut Débit plan.

For most people in these dense areas, it is not a choice not to use the Internet, it is a technical impossibility. The testimonies of various listeners from the Lot, the Hérault or even the Loire-et-Cher are quite appalling. Some have to travel several kilometres to have an Internet connection or pay a monthly subscription but only manage to connect once a week. Others, a little luckier, have an ADSL connection but very low and must therefore invest in additional equipment with a very irregular speed. The elected representatives also call on the operators to improve this connectivity wherever we go, work or live. However, there are other ways to connect like 4G, 5G or radio bridges. These transition technologies are deployed by the operators while waiting for the optical fiber.

If at the beginning of the 2000s, France had no delay for the deployment of ADSL, the same cannot be said for very high speed broadband. One of the reasons is that the major operators have prioritised their infrastructures at the expense of FTTH (fibre to the subscriber's home). Regulatory requirement is another such factor. However, France remains globally ahead in terms of optical fiber in Europe thanks to its investments over the last ten years.

Technical questions arise for the integral fibering of the population. In France, 40% of households do not have an address or number, although a house numbering plan is required for each commune. This plan speeds up the fibering process and limits the risk of errors during the optical fibre connection.

However, white areas are not limited to rural areas. Connecting to the Internet remains difficult or even impossible on public transport or rail networks. The equipment and coverage of the transport axes is an important point of the January agreement between the government and the operators. One of the objectives set is to cover 90% of the regional rail network in 4G by 2025.

This raises the question of equipment priority setting. Why do we choose to equip a city that already has 4G with optical fibre rather than a city where there is no Internet access? It is the local authorities that are supposed to define the priorities. But most local authorities, via the Public Initiative Networks, let the commercial operator decide which areas to equip. The economic development of the regions now depends on the development of the territory in digital infrastructures to be able to work and develop its trade.

This "digital new deal" is an important government commitment. The State is making efforts and is thus renouncing the financial auction of frequency allocations, i.e. around 3 billion euros. But in return, operators commit to invest these sums, or even more, in improving the mobile network with general commitments: transform all 3G sites into 4G, cover 55,000 km of road network by the end of 2020, create 5,000 sites each with mutualization to fundamentally remedy the mobile disparity.

A listener from Deux-Sèvres raises the question of the network's obsolescence. In rural areas, most subscribers have access to the Internet via ADSL via the telephone network installed over 40 years ago. However, the use of this network has its limits since the flow decreases with distance. Optical fibre is particularly suitable for these areas since the throughput remains the same whatever the distance. The choice of this technology is therefore justified, but it is still necessary to find the investments to deploy it. It is also necessary that the operators who lay the fibre do not keep it for their own profit. Indeed, this would lead to foreclosure for small ISPs and only large operators could operate.

The removal of these white areas can pose a problem for so-called electro-hypersensitive people since they are currently refuge areas. But how to face these contradictory wills because if certain people refuse Internet by principle or because of their health, it is a very strong stake in particular against the rural desertification of the youngest.

The digital divide can also be transposed to Overseas France. For example, in French Guiana less than 7% of the territory is covered by 4G. Only the coastal areas have good coverage, the rest of the department has no 4G access but these areas have a low human density. Investment efforts have been made by local authorities and operators in Overseas France, but more remains to be done, particularly in French Guiana.

 

 

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Source : France Inter

 

 

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