France - Broadband Market - Overview, Statistics & Forecasts

Synopsis

France has the third largest broadband subscriber base in Europe. Growth in 2009 has been bolstered by demand for high bandwidth applications, considerable investment in fibre infrastructure, and a pro-competitive regulator which has promoted access to France Telecom’s network for new entrants through local loop unbundling. Recent legislation has secured similar access for fibre infrastructure. DSL dominates broadband access, while fibre deployment has become a substantial proposition, particularly in the Paris region. Although the cable footprint only reaches about 40% of the population, the dominant cableco Numéricable has upgraded its network to compete with DSL and has itself entered the DSL market through acquisitions. This report assesses France’s fixed broadband markets in 2010, focussing on cable and DSL as well as developments with related technologies such as ADSL2+ and VDSL2. It reviews the strategies of the principal providers such as France Telecom, Iliad and SFR, considers the regulatory status of LLU, and provides forecasts for broadband penetration to 2019.

Table of Contents

• 1. Synopsis
  
• 2. Overview
  
  • 2.1 Local Loop Unbundling
    
  • 2.2 Wholesale access
    
  • 2.3 Bitstream access
    
  • 2.4 Regulatory issues
    
    • 2.4.1 Government support
      
    • 2.4.2 Regional support
      
    • 2.4.3 ‘Broadband for Everyone’
      
  • 2.5 Leased line market
    
  • 2.6 Broadband statistics
    
• 3. Cable modems
  
  • 3.1 Cable network agreements
    
  • 3.2 Cable consolidation
    
  • 3.3 Numéricable
    
• 4. Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)
  
  • 4.1 Providers
    
    • 4.1.1 Orange
      
    • 4.1.2 Free (Iliad)
      
    • 4.1.3 SFR
      
  • 4.2 ADSL2+
    
  • 4.3 READSL2
    
  • 4.4 Very High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL)
    
  • 4.5 Symmetric Digital Subscriber Lines (SDSL)
    
• 5. Broadband Powerline (BPL)
  
• 6. Forecasts
  
  • 6.1 Forecasts – broadband subscribers – 2009 - 2012; 2019
    
    • 6.1.1 Scenario 1 – higher growth broadband subscriber growth
      
    • 6.1.2 Scenario 2 – lower broadband subscriber growth
      
    • 6.1.3 Notes on scenario forecasts
      
• 7. Related reports
  

• Table 1 – Internet users and penetration rate – 1995 - 2009
• Table 2 – Percentage of households with Internet access – 1997 - 2009
• Table 3 – Internet user ARPU, dial-up and broadband – 2004 - 2008
• Table 4 – Average monthly broadband and dial-up subscription cost – 2002 - 2008
• Table 5 – Internet revenue by access type – 1998 - 2008
• Table 6 – Dial-up Internet subscribers – 2005 - 2008
• Table 7 – Dial-up Internet traffic – 2005 - 2008
• Table 8 – Broadband subscribers by type and penetration – 2000 - 2009
• Table 9 – Broadband penetration by technology – 2007 - 2008
• Table 10 – Broadband subscribers by type – incumbent or other provider – 2006 - 2008
• Table 11 – Broadband market share by provider – 2005 - 2006; 2008
• Table 12 – Cable modem subscribers – 2000 - 2009
• Table 13 – Numéricable subscribers by type – 2007 - 2009
• Table 14 – ADSL subscribers – 2000 - 2009
• Table 15 – France Telecom Internet subscribers – 2005 - 2009
• Table 16 – Free financial data and annual change – 2006 - 2009
• Table 17 – Free DSL, LLU subscribers – 2005 - 2009
• Table 18 – SFR broadband subscribers – 2004 - 2009
• Table 19 – SFR financial data – 2005 - 2009
• Table 20 – Forecast broadband subscribers – higher market growth scenario – 2007 - 2012; 2019
• Table 21 – Forecast broadband subscribers – lower market growth scenario – 2007 - 2012; 2019

• Exhibit 1 – Graph of Internet subscribers, broadband and dial-up – 1998 - 2008