From left to right: Philippe Le Grand, president of the InfraNum federation and Patrick Chaize, senator and president of the Avicca association
The fiber is in the middle of the ford. The France Very High Speed (THD) plan, which ended at the end of 2022, was unanimously hailed as a success. By theoretically offering quality internet access to a very large majority of our compatriots, it has made France one of the countries with the most fiber in Europe.
However, this plan leaves a taste of unfinished business. Not only are there still poorly served or unserved areas. 80% of the premises can thus be connected to fiber according to the latest count from Arcep. Rural and isolated territories are not the only poor relatives of the current deployment. Moderately dense areas, known as “Amii” for “call for expression of investment intention” are the subject of litigation between the telecom regulatory authority and Orange.
It is also necessary to ensure the sustainability of existing infrastructures by strengthening their resilience. Between bad weather and malicious acts, networks present worrying vulnerabilities.
Unlike neighboring countries such as Belgium or Germany, our country has chosen – to gain in speed of deployment – to ensure a good part of the service of its network, in aerial support, via telephone poles or electricity. The advance taken by France could turn against it if it has to bury these aerial cables afterwards.
As two major deadlines arrive in the coming years – generalization of fiber expected in 2025 and extinction of the copper network in 2030 – fiber players and local and regional authorities are calling for a new major plan for telecoms infrastructure .
Ifer put to work
This is the whole meaning of the digital “Good Deal” carried by Avicca, an association of communities involved in digital technology, and InfraNum, the federation bringing together all the players in the fiber optic chain in France, from integrators to operators. through equipment manufacturers. This post-THD plan aims to satisfy all players: subscribers, local authorities, industrialists and executive power.
Diverting the motto of the Republic, it is based on the triptych of equality, sustainability and solidarity. Equality of digital access between all French people, durability of fixed infrastructures and solidarity between territories, in particular by ensuring the maintenance of Public Initiative Networks (RIP) which grant a privileged role to local authorities in the digital development of their territory.
As money is always the sinews of war, Avicca and InfraNum present a plan which is intended to be self-financed, without the creation of tax or additional tax and which should not have an impact on the prices of fixed-line subscriptions . For this, it provides for the creation of an optical network equalization fund (FPRO), “estimated at several hundred million euros”.
This FPRO would be financed by the expected increase in the flat-rate tax on network companies (Ifer). Levied for the benefit of local authorities, this tax is aimed in particular at telecom operators at the rate of 1,709 euros paid per antenna installed. With the deployment of 5G, the amount of this Ifer is set to explode.
Currently around 400 million euros, Ifer could reach one billion euros in a few years, estimates Philippe Le Grand, president of the InfraNum federation. “The surplus could be reallocated, in whole or in part, to the equalization fund.”
The digital “Good Deal” also provides for the establishment of a national structure to complete the last connections, particularly complex connections requiring civil engineering work to be carried out in the public domain. This structure would mobilize private or public actors and would be headed by “a wise investor” such as La Banque des Territoires.
A bill or a bill
This plan is also a response to Jean-Noël Barrot. During his hearing in the Senate on March 8, the Minister Delegate in charge of the digital transition and telecommunications drew up a fairly similar observation of the landscape of telecom networks in France, he who claims a right to very high speed for all.
Senator and president of the Avicca association, Patrick Chaize is hopeful of convincing the minister to take up the Good Deal proposals. “Digital is a cross-partisan subject that everyone agrees on.” Failing this, he is not prohibited from filing a bill. “The France Very High Speed plan is a success but an unfinished success, judges the elected official. We must finish the job. Otherwise, those forgotten about fiber risk waiting a very long time.”
For his part, Philippe Le Grand recalls that there has been no major digital law since that for a digital Republic in 2016, so before Emmanuel Macron came to power. “Now is the time. All the planets are aligned.” The ball is clearly in the government’s court.