In total, approximately 11.8 million consumers are affected. Nearly one in five households is still deprived of a “real” very high-speed Internet connection, according to a study published on Tuesday by UFC-Que Choisir. Launched in 2013 so that all French people have an ultra-fast Internet connection and that France accelerates the installation of fiber optics on its territory, the government plan France very high speed (THD) mobilized almost 36 billion euros of investments public and private in ten years, according to France Strategy, an organization attached to Matignon.
“If the official figures show that the objective has been achieved”, the UFC-Que Choisir underlines that its study “however obliges to attenuate the satisfaction of the government”, whereas for 17.2% of households, or 11.8 million consumers, access to this very high speed (a speed greater than 30 Mbits/s) “is only possible by subscribing to offers using hertzian (4g fixed, THD radio) or satellite technologies”.
The “generalization” of fiber optics
“However, these are second-rate technologies compared to offers using traditional wired networks” such as fiber optics, adds the association, specifying that “it is the most rural departments which are the main victims of the divide digital”. At the end of 2022, the number of very high speed subscriptions was estimated at 21.5 million, according to the Telecoms Regulatory Authority (Arcep), including 18.1 million in optical fiber.
The government has announced the objective of a “generalization” of optical fiber by 2025, while the historic copper network of the operator Orange, the only source of access to the telephone network for several million French people, must be closed by 2030.
Distribute the effort “equitably and justly”
“We must find an agreement” between the State, the operators and the communities to meet the “challenges” remaining from the “major fiber project” and to distribute the financial effort “in an equitable and fair manner”, declared Wednesday the Minister Delegate for the Digital Transition, Jean-Noël Barrot, before the Senate Economic Affairs Committee.
To fight against the digital divide and allow “real” access to very high speed for all consumers, the UFC-Que Choisir pleads in particular for “an enforceable right” to quality Internet access, “based both on the determination by law of the minimum speeds which consumers must benefit from, and the compensation they should receive if these speeds are not reached”.