Thanks to the publication of Altice France’s financial results in September 2023, we learn that 9 million users at SFR are still forced to use the coaxial network, considered by many to be false fiber.
As you may know, SFR and the RED brand are the only operators in France to offer THD (Very High Speed) offers via coaxial termination. Also baptized FTTLa (Fiber to The Last Amplifier), this technology marks its difference with FFTH, “real” optical fiber.
Indeed, while FFTH allows the subscriber to be connected end-to-end from the optical connection node (NRO) to their home via a modem, FTTLa does not allow this. In this case, the fiber network stops at the optical node located in an electrical cabinet (either in the street or in the cellar of a building). To complete the connection to the customer’s home, a coaxial cable is used.
For years, SFR falsely claimed that there was no difference between these two technologies. In fact, this is completely false. Concerning the speeds already, optical fiber and cable do not display the same performances at all: up to 6 Gbit/s for optical fiber compared to 1 Gbit/s for cable.
Still 2 million subscribers to SFR cable offers
In 2020, SFR was condemned by the courts on appeal for fraudulently using the term “fiber” in its offers based on coaxial connections. After this decision, the red square brand revised its communication, in particular by exclusively using the term THD for FTTLa offers. Remember that in 2021, SFR was forced to pay one million euros in compensation to Free for its anti-competitive practices on “fake fiber”.
After these setbacks, one would have thought that SFR was going to put an end to its coaxial network, inherited from the acquisition of Numéricable in 2014. Well, thanks to the publication of Altice France’s quarterly results in September 2023, we have just learned that the operator still has 9 million subscribers to THD offers, including 2 million only connected via FTTLa.
We hope that these 2 million subscribers are satisfied with SFR’s services… It must be said that they don’t really have a choice. SFR/RED being the only operator to offer very high speed internet via FTTLa, there is no other alternative on the market for these customers.
Source: UniversFreebox