France - Fixed Broadband Market - Statistics and Analyses

Synopsis

France has one of the largest broadband subscriber bases in Europe. Growth in recent years has been bolstered by demand for high bandwidth services, which has prompted considerable investment in fibre infrastructure among telcos and regional governments. This has been supported by regulatory measures which have promoted access to Orange’s copper and fibre infrastructure for new entrants, as well as a national broadband program which involves an investment of more than €20 billion. Of this sum, telcos are commercially responsible to building out infrastructure affecting almost 60% of the population, with the balance to be covered by local government initiatives at cost of about €14 billion. Progress in deployment has been rapid, while the take-up rate among consumers has also increased substantially.

DSL still dominates the broadband market in terms of access lines, though the number of DSL lines is falling as customers are migrated to fibre infrastructure. Fibre deployments have grown substantially in recent years, with all of the major ISPs concentrating their investments in the platform with a view to promoting 1Gb/s services. By June 2018 there were almost four million fibre connections, and fibre accounted for half of all superfast broadband connections nationally.

Although the cable footprint only reaches about 40% of the population, the dominant cableco Altice has upgraded its network to compete with DSL and has itself entered the DSL and fibre markets. Altice intends to provide national fibre coverage by 2025.

This report assesses France’s fixed broadband market, focussing on cable, DSL and the fast-developing FttP/C sectors. It reviews the strategies of the principal providers such as Orange, Iliad and Altice (SFR Group), and considers the regulatory status of LLU and access to fibre infrastructure.

Key developments:

Government proposes new measures to fill gaps in broadband availability;
Altice increases footprint of its 1Gb/s FttP service;
Broadband subscriber growth remains strong at 4%;
Orange extends reach of vectored DSL;
DSL subscriber base continues to fall;
Success of fibre co-investment deals among operators;
Report update includes the regulator's market data to June 2018, operator data to Q3 2018, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Orange, Iliad (Free), Altice (SFR Group), Bouygues Telecom

Table of Contents

Introduction and statistical overview

Market analysis
Broadband statistics
Forecasts – broadband subscribers – 2019; 2021; 2023
Regulatory issues

Government support

Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) networks
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) networks
Fibre-to-the-Premises (FttP) networks

Introduction
Statistics
Orange
Iliad (Free)
SFR Group
Bouygues Telecom
Municipal projects
Fibre network sharing

Other fixed broadband services

Broadband Powerline (BPL)
Fixed wireless (Wi-Fi and WiMAX)

Wireless Local Loop (WLL)
WiMAX
WLAN/Wi-Fi
Internet via satellite

Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Dial-up internet subscribers – 2005 – 2015
Table 2 – Dial-up internet traffic – 2004 – 2014
Table 3 – Broadband subscribers by platform – 2000 – 2018
Table 4 – Superfast broadband connections – 2011 – 2018
Table 5 – Proportion of premises covered by superfast broadband networks – 2012 – 2017
Table 6 – Superfast broadband connections by platform – 2011 – 2018
Table 7 – Broadband penetration by technology – 2007 – 2017
Table 8 – Historic - Internet users and penetration rate – 1995 – 2009
Table 9 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2010 – 2018
Table 10 – Internet subscribers – 2008 – 2018
Table 11 – Historic - Percentage of households with internet access – 1997 – 2009
Table 12 – Percentage of households with internet access – 2010 – 2018
Table 13 – Forecast broadband subscribers –– 2019; 2021; 2023
Table 14 – Cable modem subscribers – 2000 – 2018
Table 15 – DSL subscribers – 2000 – 2018
Table 16 – Orange DSL subscribers – 2005 – 2018
Table 17 – Free broadband revenue – 2006 – 2018
Table 18 – Free broadband subscribers – 2005 – 2018
Table 19 – Free broadband subscriber ARPU – 2013 – 2018
Table 20 –SFR broadband subscribers by type – 2013 – 2017
Table 21 – SFR broadband homes passed – 2009 – 2017
Table 22 – SFR revenue – 2005 – 2017
Table 23 – SFR annualised ARPU by broadband service – 2013 – 2017
Table 24 – FttP equipped and passed buildings – 2008 – 2018
Table 25 – FttP subscribers – 2011 – 2018
Table 26 – Orange fibre subscribers – 2006 – 2018
Table 27 Free fibre subscribers – 2015 – 2018
Table 28 – Bouygues Telecom broadband subscribers – 2010 – 2018
Table 29 – FttP subscriptions – 2015 – 2018
Table 30 – Orange satellite broadband subscribers – 2008 – 2017

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Broadband subscribers by platform – 2000 – 2018
Chart 2 – Internet users and penetration rate – 2005 – 2018

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Principal FttP and FttC (FttLA) deployments

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Licence Information

Focus Report Profile

Technologies

Broadband Fixed
Mobile & Wireless Broadband and Media
Telecoms Infrastructure

Number of pages 55

Status Current

Last updated 21 Nov 2018
Update History

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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Paul, May I congratulate you on a very successful and enjoyable afternoon with the Minister. In providing the roundtable discussions between government and industry, it highlighted the strong interest by stakeholders in Broadband and its implementation but it also presented us with other issues and opportunities that we need to address.

Dominic Schipano, CITT

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