Why the State is nationalizing ASN, manufacturer of submarine telecom cables ?

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Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), a company that belonged to Nokia since 2015, will become a public company. The State did not want to take any risks since the latter's activity is essential. Let's take stock.

Why the State is nationalizing ASN ?

The French State is therefore acquiring 80% of the capital of this company for 100 million euros, which values ​​it at 350 million euros. The latter produces and lays submarine cables. We also know that 99% of global internet traffic passes through these installations.

We don't have to look far for the reasons for this nationalization. Indeed, Nokia was wondering about the future of this company. However, and as Le Monde specifies, the government did not want ASN to fall into the wrong hands, because it is ” a strategic company “.

A good deal for the State ?

In addition to this major issue of sovereignty, the State Shareholding Agency (APE) specifies that ” the acquisition of ASN is intended to be profitable” for the State ” which intends to ” support and accelerate the growth of the company in its core business and adjacent activities”. In fact, ASN has doubled its turnover over the last five years and this has reached 1.12 billion euros with a prospect of ” doubling or tripling in the years to come “.

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Our colleagues also point out that ASN is the only European manufacturer positioned in this sector and that it holds a third of the global market. Recently, this company distinguished itself on the 2Africa project which is supposed to interconnect Europe, Asia and Africa over a distance of 45,000 kilometres.

Major risks surrounding submarine cables

To provide some context to this information, it should be noted that the question of potential sabotage of French submarine cables is taken very seriously by the authorities. The latter could in fact be manipulated manually by divers or via small submarines controlled remotely.

In the event of imminent danger, the state has even developed a list of urgent actions to allow essential data to circulate, such as those concerning hospitals, airports, or banking information. Incidentally, this could lead to the temporary shutdown of services such as Netflix and YouTube, which are very bandwidth-hungry. More information on this in our previous article here.

What to remember:

• The French government buys Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) from Nokia for 100 million euros
• This decision is taken for reasons of sovereignty
• It could also prove profitable for public finances

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