Orange is starting to plan for the end of the copper telephone line network, which will have to be dismantled in 2030. In just eight years…
The deployment of optical fiber continues at a good pace in France, and it is time for Orange to plan the dismantling of its aging network of copper telephone lines, on which are based the xDSL technologies still used by a majority of French people. Thus, Orange submitted to Arcep, the telecoms regulator, the plan according to which the operator plans to cut this network before launching its dismantling. In particular, this provides for the end of the marketing of ADSL Internet offers in the years to come, starting with regions where the fiber optic coverage rate will have reached 100%.
As a reminder, the France Very High Speed Plan provides that the entire metropolitan territory will be fiber-optic by 2025. In total, Orange agents will have to remove and prepare for recycling more than a million kilometers of cables. The resale of the metals will allow Orange to partially finance the operation, knowing that other indirect gains are at stake: the operator estimates the maintenance bill for this aging network at 500 million euros per year, while fiber consumes on average three times less energy than the old network.
This will be so much money saved when the entire infrastructure of the country is based on fiber optics. In any case, the French Telecoms Federation does not intend to pay for two networks for very long, which is “economic heresy” according to Michel Combot, its director. In other words, Orange’s copper dismantling plan must be optimized and efficient, while guaranteeing continuity of access to services.