Several areas of Essonne are hit by repeated optical fiber outages. On Tuesday, Orange, SFR, Free, Bouygues Telecom and Altitude Infra, which acquired these networks, launched “strike” operations.
In municipalities in Essonne such as Brétigny-sur-Orge, Fleury-Mérogis, Marcoussis, Corbeil-Essonnes and others, telecom operators play a sacred role. Tuesday March 12, 2024, Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom, Free and Altitude Infra, all headed by the French Telecoms Federation, announced exceptional measures aimed at improving the quality of service of the department’s fiber optic networks. They are directly described, by the main actors, as “one-shot” operations, and have already started on March 5.
An almost unprecedented collaboration between operators, to come to the aid of affected fiber customers
This is a collaboration that is not far from being unprecedented between the four major commercial operators and Altitude Infra, an infrastructure operator specializing in optical fiber. The latter recently acquired the Altitude Infra Cœur de Fiber (Sequantic Telecom) networks and its 9 municipalities, Seine Essonne THD and its 4 municipalities, as well as Europ’Essonne and its 13 municipalities.
The work has three major objectives. Together, the five operators will act together to repair faulty fiber optic lines in the most affected areas, while updating the technical standards that will help ensure the sustainability of the repairs. The idea being to offer sustainability to damaged networks, once they have been repaired.
The operation will help stakeholders map problem areas, which will in fact be priorities for interventions. It will ensure coordination between operators, to restore quality of service to affected customers as quickly as possible. Let’s talk about the calendar.
Several months of work will be necessary
The interventions have already started. The interventions began on March 5, 2024, on a first batch of 8 zones. A gradual ramp-up of repairs is expected. Their true duration is unknown, particularly due to the complexity of the work to be undertaken. Altitude Infra nevertheless explains that the complete realization should require “ several months “.
Altitude Infra and operators are targeting a halving of the number of outages by September 2024 on the Seine Essonne, Europ’Essonne, and Sequantic networks, which should benefit from the combined effect of so-called “punch” operations and recovery plans. This is all the bad we can wish for subscribers.
No additional costs will be associated with the customers concerned, who can be reassured. Their commercial operator should, in theory, contact them to finalize the restoration of their services.
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