The Government announced a new target as part of its “Très Haut Debit” plan, to achieve 100% coverage of full fibre by 2025, compared to the current 45.7%.
Background: Since 2013, the French Government has overseen the execution of the Very High-Speed Broadband Plan (France Très Haut Débit). The plan aims to provide every home and business with “very high-speed broadband”, i.e. 30Mbps or higher, by 2022, and entails a €20bn investment, both private and public, over 10 years. The Government provides financial support for local authorities with €3.5bn in subsidies, and with long-term loans (up to 40 years) at very low rates.
New targets announced: On 21 February 2020, seven years after the plan was first announced, three ministers of the Government set out new targets for 2025. Considering that the 2022 target is on track to be met, and that 80% of the high-speed connections will be fibre by then, the Government now wants to go further and achieve full coverage of FTTH by 2025. Within the framework of the existing plan, 75% of the country’s departments have already set that target; for the remaining 25%, the Government will make available €280m for local authorities which can now request state aid under the new specifications that have been set out.
The objective is ambitious, but probably within reach: In France, high-speed broadband has seen a fast pace of deployment. As of Q2 2019, 30Mbps connections covered circa 74% of premises, and 100Mbps covered about 60% of premises, across all technologies. FTTH coverage was circa 45.7% of premises as of Q3 2019 (a 10.7 percentage points growth YoY), which means the target could be achieved if the current pace of deployment is kept. Meanwhile, the regulator ARCEP has started the next review of wholesale broadband markets, with a focus on fibre networks and on the switch-off process of Orange’s copper network, which is set to begin in 2023.
