2023-10-13 14:29:00
Jean-François Fallacher made a notable outing this Thursday, in Bourges, during a major conference bringing together the entire telecoms industry. The boss of Orange France, who replaced Fabienne Dulac on April 3, criticized Emmanuel Macron’s promise to bring fiber to all French people by 2025. According to him, this objective has everything ‘a chimera. “When I took office, this famous 100% fiber surprised mehe said. I think it’s a dream. » He recalled that nearly 86% of French people today have access to fiber. ” It is enormous “welcomed the leader, praising a result « phénoménal »fruit of a “gigantic work” shot down in just ten years. Thus, he continued, “we are reaching the end of this project”.
Understand: a significant proportion of households will not, in their eyes, have access to fiber. Quite simply because the last homes or businesses to be connected are, according to him, the most “complicated”most « complexes ». And therefore the most expensive… When the economic equation proves impossible, it is better, affirms Jean-François Fallacher, to favor alternative technologies to fiber, such as 5G for fixed use or satellite. This last clarification is not disinterested. Jean-François Fallacher indicated that Orange would launch a very high-speed Internet offer via satellite in mid-November.
The anger of Arcep and the communities
Whatever the case, Jean-François Fallacher’s comments irritated Arcep. Also present in Bourges, Laure de La Raudière, the president of the telecoms regulator, sharply reframed the boss of Orange. “The political objective”she indicated, “it’s the generalization of fiber” in all the countries. And certainly not to roll out the red carpet for alternative technologies, which, according to her, must remain completely marginal. Arcep, continued Laure de La Raudière, will keep an eye on things. “The objective of the regulator is to meet this political objective”she warned.
Orange’s position also annoyed communities. Patrick Chaize, the senator from Ain (LR) and president of Avicca, which represents communities involved in digital technology, was outraged. The parliamentarian castigated those “who call into question the objective of 100% fiber in France, affirm that it is a ‘dream’, that it will cost too much and that we will not achieve it”. According to him, there is an issue here « d’inclusion ». “Be careful not to leave anyone behind”, he continued, worrying about the fate of the inhabitants of certain rural areas. Out of the question, for the senator, of giving birth to a new digital divide… Same story for Philippe Le Grand, the president of InfraNum, an association which brings together fiber manufacturers – and of which Orange is a member. “We all have the same ambition: 100% fiber is the objective we are all pursuing”did he declare.
More than 2 million “complex” connections
It is undoubtedly no coincidence that Jean-François Fallacher now returns to this ” objective ” presidential. Since the start of the school year, Orange has been negotiating an agreement with the government. This aims, precisely, to complete the fiber coverage of France. The idea is that the executive refrains from penalizing the historic operator with a heavy fine for not having connected homes in medium-sized towns on time. In exchange, the operator must obtain a deadline to bring fiber to these territories, and complete coverage of large urban centers by 2025. The terms of this deal are eagerly awaited: they will make it possible to see more clearly the proportion of premises which will not have fiber and will have to deal with alternative technologies.
Of the nearly 43 million premises to be covered in France, more than 2 million fall into the category of “long” or “complex” connections, the financing of which is not yet assured. InfraNum estimates that 3 billion euros remain to be found to carry out these deployments. The bill is particularly steep, knowing that the fiber project has already cost nearly 36 billion euros – including 13 billion euros of public funds – since 2013.
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