© Unsplash/Compare Fiber
If the global plan to install fiber throughout the entire territory ultimately proved to be a success, it is now beginning to raise the problems hitherto hidden under the carpet. On the agenda: lack of funding, potential fines against operators s’ they do not achieve their objective of completeness and infrastructure maintenance which requires billions. In short, the fiber situation in France risks becoming complicated in the months to come.
The very high speed plan is losing speed ?
Adopted in February 2013, the France Very High Speed Plan (or PFTHD) is a strategy adopted by the Hollande government whose aim was to cover the entire territory in very high speed. Initially planned for completion in 2022, it was finally postponed to 2025 given the scope of the project, then 2030 for certain regions such as Brittany.
In just over 10 years, France has managed to equip more than 38 million homes with fiber, one of the best performances in Europe. But this success has so far hidden a predictable reality: 100% fiber is not likely to arrive anytime soon.
The deployment of fiber in very dense areas and moderately dense areas has been either significantly slowed down or completely stopped. The general delegate of Avicca (a company which brings together various digital communities) Ariel Turpin is warning today about this end of connection which risks being more problematic than expected.< /p>
Since 2017, we have been sounding the alarm about the end of the connection. The communities, which left much later, will end up undermining the private sector in terms of the completeness of the network.
© Dreamlike Street – Unsplash
Fines for incomplete connections ?
L’Arcep, or l&# 8217;Regulatory authority for electronic communications, posts and press distribution, has put Orange and SFR on notice in order to push them to complete their commitment. The two operators must therefore connect 600,000 homes in medium-sized cities by December 31, 2025, otherwise they will have to pay a fine.
The problem is that many connections prove particularly complicated to set up. In certain cases, the infrastructure is out of order (broken pole, blocked conduit), and an investment of 1.3 billion euros would be necessary to allow these additional fiber connections. There are approximately 440,000 such cases.
Maintenance which costs billions
In addition to the connection, which should reach 97 or 98% of the territory by 2025 if According to an anonymous sector figure interviewed by Le Figaro, the maintenance of these networks and infrastructures requires the investment of several billions of dollars ;euros. Thus, the digital infrastructure federation (Infranum – federation of professionals in the telecommunications infrastructure sector) has requested a major plan to guarantee the resilience of networks against problems linked to climate, various sabotages or even accidents.
This investment requires between 7 and 17 billion euros according to Infranum and the Banque des Territories, an intermediate scenario of 10 billion euros. #8217;euros being currently favored. Unfortunately, some internet operators are currently showing a certain reluctance when it comes to checkout.
So , even if the France Très Haut Débit Plan were to reach 100% in 2025, the subsequent question of maintenance and the billions of euros required to keep the network and its infrastructure in order risks causing a real headache for the authorities then in place.
- 38 million homes have been equipped with fiber in just over 10 years (86% of the territory)
- The deployment of fiber in very dense and moderately dense areas has been either shut down or largely slowed down due to lack of funding
- Maintenance of the already established network could cost 10 billion euros. euros
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