The site has not entered its operational phase before it is already being scrutinized very closely by the authorities and the players in the telco market. Orange clarified certain points of its strategy to end its copper network by 2030. Arcep published its response on July 29.
As part of a public consultation organized by Arcep, Orange’s main competitors – SFR, Bouygues and Free – denounced a lack of transparency in its plan and the control of the incumbent operator.
SFR points out, for example, that this large-scale operation requires “total transparency and necessary support from Orange on its closure procedures”. Iliad, the parent company of Free, fears for its part that Orange will remain “ultimately the sole decision maker”. And militates for the public authorities to intervene in order “not to let Orange, and if necessary the FFT [Fédération française des télécoms]manage and communicate alone around the extinction of the universal service support network for more than 50 years”.
However, telecom players, including Orange, agree on one point: this major project on the end of copper remains closely linked to the massive deployment of fiber in the territory. Thus, in the first quarter of 2022, FttH networks covered nearly 72% of premises according to Arcep.
January 2026, commercial closure
Orange reminds in its note to Arcep that the shutdown of the copper network will take place in two stages, with on the one hand the commercial closure and on the other by the technical closure, which corresponds to the definitive interruption of existing services.
The incumbent operator is currently working on the constitution of a batch of municipalities in which it would like to carry out a technical closure of its local copper loop by the end of 2024.
Orange has given the date of January 2026 for the commercial closure. Possible postponements are however possible: “If the level of the regulatory criteria is not reached in a reasonable manner in an area, Orange will be able to show flexibility in order to postpone the commercial closure on these areas on a case-by-case basis, within the framework of the governance described above and without this calling into question the overall deadline of the end of 2030”, indicates the incumbent operator. He points out that the main criterion for judging this remains the rate of FTTH deployment.
Promote “neutral and institutional” communication
On the specific subject of very dense areas, Orange indicates that “additional coordination with the FttH IOs will be put in place”.
Orange also claims to have “taken note of the reservations expressed in the context of the public consultation on the closure of the copper network in ZTD”. He considers it “necessary and effective to carry out, as of now, the first experiments with technical closure in very dense areas”. Also, Orange proposes to carry out experiments in Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) and Vanves (Hauts-de-Seine) to apply a technical closure there from November 2024.
Finally, to better pass its plan to close the aging copper network, Orange says it wants to put forward “neutral and institutional” communication. The operator insists on a communication “complementary to the communications of the operators, to make known the project of closing the copper network and to support the population in this process of modernization of the country”. To achieve this, Orange intends in particular to deploy a “communication kit” with the FFT, to coordinate actions at local and national level.