Marseille, Lille, Strasbourg… These cities which are less well covered in fiber than the countryside
Posted Apr 9, 2022, 8:00 AM
Since the health crisis, many Parisians have moved to Marseille for the sun and the sea. But they may not have the fiber! In the second largest city in France, less than 3 out of 4 homes are now eligible for this very high speed technology. Paradoxically, the surrounding countryside is better covered.
Admittedly, at the national level, the big cities remain the best served. But Marseille is not an isolated case. The situation is worse in Lille. Martine Aubry’s city has 65% fiber coverage, according to the latest from Arcep, the telecoms regulator. While in the rest of the Nord department, there are only a handful of dwellings that do not yet have access.
The site is also lagging behind in Nancy (65%), Clermont-Ferrand (75%) and Strasbourg (77%). Sometimes the contrast with the countryside is striking. In Saint-Etienne, prefecture of the Loire, 14% of homes do not know if and when they will have fiber. While the smallest village in the rest of the department is connected.
Very high speed for all in 2022
“When the city-prefecture is late, it is politically very difficult to assume” acknowledged Wednesday Laure de la Raudière, president of Arcep, during a telecom conference organized by the firms KPMG and SWP. The regulator is concerned to see this situation persist. The pace of deployments in major cities is considered insufficient. In the last quarter of 2021, 112,000 additional lines were deployed there, compared to more than 200,000 during the peak of 2016… At this speed, it would take at least two more years to offer fiber to all city dwellers.
However, when France launched the major fiber project in 2013, the State proposed that the sole logic of profitability would be enough to encourage operators to quickly cover the most populated cities. The objective was then to bring very high speed to 100% of the territory by 2022, mainly (80%) by fiber. For this, Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Free have had free rein in the cities. While in the countryside and medium-sized towns, the State has supervised and often invested public funds to ensure that these areas are also covered.
Historic districts
A decade later, this reasoning has found its limits. In fact, even in large cities, there are less dense (and therefore less livable) neighborhoods. Or more difficult to connect due to geography. “The Roucas Blanc district, in the 7th arrondissement of Marseille, is very steep and is mainly home to townhouses. It’s quite complicated to fibre,” explains Pierre-Michel Attali, president of the SWP firm.
Telecom operators are also facing blockages from condominium associations or town halls, particularly in historic and protected areas of city centers. This is the case of Aix-en-Provence, around the Cours Mirabeau, or even in the hypercentre of Paris.
Faced with this, the Infranum federation (which brings together all fiber manufacturers) recommends simplifying administrative procedures. Whether it’s the green light from the architects of French buildings (ABF) for listed buildings, or general meetings of co-owners.
However, these simplification measures could be insufficient. The main problem is that telecom operators have no regulatory obligation to fully fiber cities. “There is no pressure of completeness, regrets Ariel Turpin”, general manager of Avicca. For the association which represents 230 communities, there is therefore no question of withdrawing the old copper network from Orange as long as all of France, including the cities, is not 100% fiber-optic. “Even in Paris, there are still 65,000 homes without fiber. We are not going to cut copper in the capital to replace it with satellite dishes and 4G keys! »
The solution could come from a redistricting of the areas defined in 2009. This would require Arcep to make a finding of lack of private investment in urban areas without fiber. These places could then be the subject of a deployment piloted by the State within contractually defined deadlines.
The fiber project far from being a success
But for now, it’s not on the table. Arcep has another, more pressing battlefield: the quality of new fiber networks. In recent months, the problems have multiplied: connections in noodle dishes, smashed street cabinets, disconnected customers…
“Honestly, I find it hard to say that the fiber project in France is a success, the quality of service is not there, even acknowledged Laure de la Raudière. This creates great dissatisfaction in the communities. We cannot have invested so much public and private money for this to lead to disappointment…”.
Emmanuel Macron’s campaign promise five years ago to bring “good speed” to all French people in 2020 and very high speed in 2022 would certainly have been kept (in part thanks to satellite). But the general requirement has now become access to fiber without delays or cuts – which is still very far from reality.