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Articles tagged with: telecom

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

 

 

 

 

France-IX extends its historical point of presence to TH2

on Thursday, 20 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

France-IX extends its historical point of presence to TH2

 

Since its launch in 2010, France-IX has chosen to host its infrastructure on the TH2 site of Telehouse. The presence of Tier I operators and the reliability of its infrastructure, guaranteeing 99.99% service availability, made this choice an obvious one for France-IX.

Since then, the two companies have been engaged in a trusting collaboration in which the development of the community of members of the exchange and the ecosystem of Telehouse customers feed each other. The France-IX community reached 100 members in the first year of cooperation and 200 in the following two years.

 

The TH2 connectivity hub recently doubled its connectivity capacity with the aim of carrying more traffic and making Paris one of the most connected cities in the world within five years. This expansion responds to the growing demands of companies to interconnect with their ecosystem, while favouring the localisation of their data in France. It is also in line with France-IX's desire to strengthen the resilience and robustness of its infrastructure in order to offer extensive, natively secure and low-cost connectivity to local and international players, and thus meet the major challenges of competitiveness.

 

The doubling of France-IX's point of presence at TH2 opens up an additional reserve of available ports for new customers, particularly corporates who are increasingly outsourcing their IT infrastructures. They are thus extending their access to the Cloud and hosting their equipment for a direct connection to the France-IX core network and have the essential infrastructure to connect to their partners (GAFAM, SaaS application publishers and other Cloud content and services).

 

 

 

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Source : Datacenter Magazine

 

 

 

 

France-IX: new PoP at DATA4

on Wednesday, 12 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

France-IX: new PoP at DATA4

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.

 

[...]

 

"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.

 

 

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Decommissioning of the TAT-14 submarine cable

on Wednesday, 12 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Decommissioning of the TAT-14 submarine cable

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.

 

 

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Source : Datacenter Magazine

 

 

 

 

Online appointment for the RUG #25

on Wednesday, 12 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Online appointment for the RUG #25

Come and discuss the theme of supervision in your infrastructure during the next RUG! Meet us on Friday, June 4, from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, by videoconference to share points of view and feedback with the France-IX teams (Lyon and Paris).


On the agenda:

  • France-IX architecture presented by Simon Muyal - Technical Director
  • Presentation of the different monitoring tools implemented at France-IX Lyon
  • SLA measurement tools and the Tools portal: France-IX monitoring tools
  • Open discussion on the perspectives in the monitoring and alerting fields

 

Useful information

  • Schedule from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
  • Confirm your participation before June 2nd
  • The videoconference link will be sent a few days before the event



 

 Register 

 





 

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

 

 

 

 

Operators: French complaints increased in 2020

on Friday, 07 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Operators: French complaints increased in 2020

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.

 

 

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Source : Journal du Geek

 

 

 

 

RUG #25 : save the date

on Friday, 07 May 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

RUG #25 : save the date

Come and discuss the theme of supervision in your infrastructure during the next RUG!

 

The France-IX technical teams (Lyon & Paris) will meet you on June 4th, in videoconference from 9:30 am, to share points of view and experience feedback.

 

Registration will open soon...

 

 





 

Altitude Infra takes over 25 fibre networkse

on Friday, 30 April 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Altitude Infra takes over 25 fibre networkse

At the end of 2020, Brussels validated the acquisition of Covage by SFR under certain conditions. Indeed, in order to avoid competition problems, the operator with the red square had to sell part of its networks. Altitude Infra and Axione had expressed their interest and had positioned themselves to acquire all the networks concerned.

 

In a joint press release, Altitude Infra, which manages 19 RIPs and claims to have deployed 1 million outlets, and Xp Fibre, the entity created by the merger between SFR FTTH and Covage, with 7 million outlets deployed, announced that they had entered into exclusive negotiations for the full acquisition of the assets. The transaction is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2021, following approval by the European Commission.

 

The 25 networks concerned correspond to Covage's fibre optic local loop activity in the Public Initiative Networks. This represents 95% of the operator's FttO (Fibre to the Office) activity. Among them, 15 Covage subsidiaries active almost exclusively on the wholesale market for capacity services on BLOD (Dedicated Optical Local Loop) and 10 Covage subsidiaries active marginally on the wholesale market for capacity services on BLOD and which also deploy FttH networks.

 

 

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Source : Univers Freebox

 

 

 

 

5G: no risk to public health concludes Anses

on Friday, 23 April 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

5G: no risk to public health concludes Anses

5G has given rise to many fantasies even before its launch in France. However, the French National Agency for Health Safety (Anses) considers that there is no public health risk associated with the deployment of 5G to date.

It must be said that while the new mobile standard promises to speed up our communications, it currently uses several frequency bands: those between 700 MHz and 2.1 GHz, already used by 3G and 4G, a new band allocated to operators in November 2020 and in a few years' time, the 26 GHz band.

 

For the first two frequency bands, already used for 3G and 4G, there are no new risks. After several studies carried out upstream for the deployment of 5G, the Anses explains that it is "unlikely at this stage that the deployment of 5G in the frequency band around 3.5 GHz will constitute a new health risk".

On the other hand, for the 26 GHz band, which has not yet been allocated in France, the organisation is more moderate: "At present, the data are not sufficient to conclude whether or not there are health effects".

The government welcomed these reassuring results, considering the deployment of 5G as "a turning point in innovation". However, 5G is not yet completely out of the woods. For several months now, the High Council for the Climate had been warning that the new connectivity standard was "likely to significantly increase" the carbon footprint of the digital sector, which is already one of the biggest polluters in the world.

 

 

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Source : Journal du Geek

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Open 5G sites: Orange and Free still far ahead

on Friday, 16 April 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Open 5G sites: Orange and Free still far ahead

Arcep published its observatory of commercial 5G deployments on April 14th. As of March 31th, operators have commercially opened 12,917 5G sites, including 2,838 in the 3.5 GHz band. While analysis of the operators' curves shows that no one is neglecting the fifth-generation technology, not all are moving at the same pace.

 

With nearly 13,000 sites open in 5G in France at the end of March, mobile network deployment is steady. In just a few months, operators have secured coverage for millions of potential subscribers, and Arcep is even talking about "steady progress for the first few months of 2021."

 

Orange has activated the most sites and antennas in the 5G "core band" with 1,105 sites in 3.5 GHz. The incumbent operator is also supporting this deployment with 2.1 GHz technology (medium frequencies), enabling speeds equivalent to 4G since it exploits a band already in operation. By 2023, this middle band will provide access to new 5G services in current 4G areas.

 

Free Mobile continues to do well. Although the operator founded by Xavier Niel has activated fewer 3.5 GHz sites than Orange (824 vs. 1,105), it is the operator that has opened the most sites in France: 8,074 in total, i.e. 1,030 additional sites in one month, compared with 338 for Orange.

Unlike its three competitors, Free is still betting heavily on low frequencies (700 MHz). More than 7,000 sites have been opened in this band, which has lower bandwidths but has the advantage of penetrating buildings better.

 

As for the other two operators. Bouygues Telecom is still ahead of SFR, and even Orange in the total number of sites, from a statistical point of view. The operator - a subsidiary of the French construction giant - has activated a total of 2,263 sites, including 491 in 3.5 GHz and 2,091 in 2.1 GHz.

In terms of the number of 5G sites opened in 3.5 GHz, SFR is on a par with Bouygues Telecom with a total of 418. But the operator with the red square is clearly behind for the additional sites. Indeed, it has commercially opened 778 sites in 2.1 GHz. That is a total of 1 196 activated 5G sites all frequencies combined. This places SFR quite far from its first competitor.

 

 

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Source : Clubic

 

 

 

 

Iliad/Cellnex/Play: agreements finalized in Poland

on Friday, 02 April 2021 Posted in Archives Rezopole

Iliad/Cellnex/Play: agreements finalized in Poland

In parallel with the takeover bid for Polish operator Play in the fall of 2020, Iliad intended to apply in Poland the strategy already adopted in France with Cellnex.

 

The agreement with the European mobile infrastructure operator, which covers 7,000 sites, was aimed at transferring 60% of the company's structure to Cellnex, and was designed to manage the passive telecoms infrastructure of the French operator's new Polish subsidiary.

It also included a collaboration with Cellnex to build at least 1,500 additional sites over 10 years for €400 million.

 

On April 1st, Iliad announced that it had finally finalized the extension of its industrial partnership with Cellnex through the sale to the latter of 60% of the company managing passive mobile telecommunications infrastructures in Poland, for the sum of €804 million before tax. This will enable its Polish partner to strengthen its investment capacities and enter a new development cycle with the deployment and acquisition of 5G frequencies, the densification of its mobile network, but above all the desire to enter the fixed-line market on a European scale.

 

 

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Source : freenews

 

 

 

 

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