France - Telecoms Infrastructure, Operators, Regulations - Statistics and Analyses

Synopsis

France has the third largest telecoms market in Europe, worth about €31 billion annually. The incumbent telco Orange Group is one of the world’s major players with interests in markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company is embarked on its five-year ‘Essentials 2020’ program focussed on emerging markets as well as on investments in super-fast broadband and LTE infrastructure within its European footprint.

Despite market liberalisation, the company still dominates all sectors though increasing competition from a number of major players (notably Altice and Iliad) has gradually eroded this lead, prompting it to respond with a range of innovative offers and wide-ranging strategies to meet future customer needs. It is also investing in a national fibre network, largely in response to the activities of smaller players.

The mobile sector is dominated by four providers, complemented by an increasing number of MVNOs which together have a market share of around 11% of subscribers. The vibrant broadband market has seen strong growth as a result of regulatory measures promoting competitor access to exchanges through local loop unbundling, as well as to fibre infrastructure and ducts.

This report introduces the key aspects of France’s telecom market, providing updated statistics on the country’s fixed network, an analysis of operator strategies, and a review of the key regulatory issues including the status of number portability, wholesaling and carrier preselection.

Key developments:

Orange stops promoting PSTN products;
Bouygues Telecom sets up Objenious subsidiary dedicated to the Internet of Things;
ACE submarine cable connecting France with African markets extended;
Orange opens its first 400Gb/s per wavelength cable;
Orange sets up Orange Horizons subsidiary to exploit potential in new markets;
Report update includes the regulator's market data updates to June 2019, operator data to Q2 2019, Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, recent market developments.

Companies mentioned in this report:

Orange, Iliad (Free), Altice, SFR, Numéricable

Table of Contents

Key statistics
Regional European Market Comparison

Europe Telecom Maturity Index by tier

Market Leaders
Market Challengers
Market Emergents

TMI versus GDP
Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

Telecommunications market

Market analysis

Regulatory environment

History
National legal framework
France NumErique 2012
Regulatory authority

Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARCEP)

Telecom sector liberalisation

Privatisation of Orange Group
Interconnect
Access
Number Portability (NP)
Carrier PreSelection (CPS)

Fixed network operators

Orange Group

Essentials 2020

Altice France
Free (Iliad)
Bouygues Telecom

Telecommunications infrastructure

National telecom network
International infrastructure

Submarine cable networks
Satellite networks
Cloud services

Smart infrastructure

Internet of Things (IoT)
Smart Cities

Appendix – Historic data
Related reports

List of Tables

Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - France – 2019 (e)
Table 2 – Development in telecom service investment – 2009 – 2018
Table 3 – Change in end-user traffic volume in minutes by sector – 2009 – 2019
Table 4 – Percentage change in end-user traffic by sector – 2009 – 2019
Table 5 – Decline in telecom market revenue, by sector – 2008 – 2019
Table 6 – Development of end-user fixed-line market revenue (telephony, broadband) – 2009 – 2019
Table 7 – Change in the proportion of telecom revenue by sector – 2009 – 2019
Table 8 – Percentage change in end-user telecom market revenue – 2009 – 2019
Table 9 – End-user monthly bill by service – 2010 – 2019
Table 10 – Change in the number of fixed lines subscriptions by type – 2009 – 2019
Table 11 – Change in the number of unbundled and bitstream lines – 2009 – 2019
Table 12 – Decline in the number of Orange’s wholesale broadband lines – 2006 – 2019
Table 13 – Development of annual fixed number porting – 2005 – 2019
Table 14 – Change in the number of Orange’s customers by sector (France) – 2006 – 2019
Table 15 – Drop in the number of Orange’s retail voice lines – 2007 – 2019
Table 16 – Development of Orange Group’s financial data by sector – 2008 – 2019
Table 17 – Decline in Orange’s domestic revenue – 2007 – 2019
Table 18 – Change in Orange’s domestic telecom capex – 2008 – 2019
Table 19 – Change in the number of Orange’s retail and wholesale lines – 2006 – 2019
Table 20 – Growth in the number of SFR Group’s subscribers by type – 2009 – 2019
Table 21 – SFR Group financial data – 2009 – 2019
Table 22 – Change in SFR Group’s revenue by type – 2017 – 2019
Table 23 – SFR Group telecom capex – 2008 – 2019
Table 24 – Increase in Free’s revenue by segment – 2009 – 2019
Table 25 – Increase in the number of Free’s subscribers by sector – 2009 – 2019
Table 26 – Change in the number of Bouygues Telecom’s subscribers by sector – 2009 – 2019
Table 27 – Development of Bouygues Telecom’s financial data – 2009 – 2019
Table 28 – Change in the number of fixed-lines in service, and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Table 29 – Change in the proportion of fixed lines by technology – 2009 – 2019
Table 30 – Development of international internet bandwidth – 2009 – 2016
Table 31 – Historic - Telecom service investment – 2002 – 2009
Table 32 – Historic - End-user fixed-line market value – 2003 – 2009
Table 33 – Historic - Proportion of fixed lines by technology – 2004 – 2009
Table 34 – Historic - International internet bandwidth – 2000 – 2009
Table 35 – Historic - End-user traffic volume in minutes by sector – 2002 – 2099
Table 36 – Historic - End-user traffic growth by sector – 2002 – 2009
Table 37 – Historic – Change in end-user telecom market revenue – 2004 – 2009
Table 38 – Historic - Fixed lines subscriptions by type – 2003 – 2009
Table 39 – Historic - Unbundled and bitstream lines – 2002 – 2099
Table 40 – Historic - Indirect fixed line connections – 2006 – 2016

List of Charts

Chart 1 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Leaders (top tier)
Chart 2 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Challengers (middle tier)
Chart 3 – Europe Telecoms Maturity Index – Market Emergents (bottom tier)
Chart 4 – Overall view - Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita
Chart 5 – Europe - mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 – Scandinavia and Baltics: mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 – Northern Europe –mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 – Southern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 9 – Eastern Europe mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 10 – Scandinavia and Baltics fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 11 – Northern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 12 – Southern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 13 – Eastern Europe fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 14 – Development in telecom service investment – 2009 – 2018
Chart 15 – Change in end-user traffic volume in minutes by sector – 2009 – 2019
Chart 16 – Percentage change in end-user traffic by sector – 2009 – 2019
Chart 17 – Decline in telecom market revenue, by sector – 2008 – 2019
Chart 18 – Development of end-user fixed-line market revenue (telephony, broadband) – 2009 – 2019
Chart 19 – Change in the proportion of telecom revenue by sector – 2009 – 2019
Chart 20 – Change in the number of fixed lines subscriptions by type – 2009 – 2019
Chart 21 – Change in the number of unbundled and bitstream lines – 2009 – 2019
Chart 22 – Decline in the number of Orange’s wholesale broadband lines – 2006 – 2019
Chart 23 – Development of annual fixed number porting – 2005 – 2019
Chart 24 – Change in the number of Orange’s customers by sector (France) – 2006 – 2019
Chart 25 – Drop in the number of Orange’s retail voice lines – 2007 – 2019
Chart 26 – Development of Orange Group’s financial data by sector – 2008 – 2019
Chart 27 – Decline in Orange’s domestic revenue – 2007 – 2019
Chart 28 – Change in the number of Orange’s retail and wholesale lines – 2006 – 2019
Chart 29 – Growth in the number of SFR Group’s subscribers by type – 2009 – 2019
Chart 30 – SFR Group financial data – 2009 – 2019
Chart 31 – Change in SFR Group’s revenue by type – 2017 – 2019
Chart 32 – Increase in Free’s revenue by segment – 2009 – 2019
Chart 33 – Increase in the number of Free’s subscribers by sector – 2009 – 2019
Chart 34 – Change in the number of Bouygues Telecom’s subscribers by sector – 2009 – 2019
Chart 35 – Development of Bouygues Telecom’s financial data – 2009 – 2019
Chart 36 – Change in the number of fixed-lines in service, and penetration – 2009 – 2024
Chart 37 – Change in the proportion of fixed lines by technology – 2009 – 2019
Chart 38 – Development of international internet bandwidth – 2009 – 2016

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1 – Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 2 – Access and the local loop

Related Reports

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Licence Information

Focus Report Profile

Technologies

Regulations & Government Policies
Telecoms Infrastructure

Number of pages 102

Status Current

Last updated 25 Oct 2019
Update History

Analyst: Henry Lancaster

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France - Telecoms Infrastructure, Operators, Regulations - Statistics and Analyses

Synopsis

Key developments:

Companies mentioned in this report:

Key statistics

Regional European Market Comparison

Telecommunications market

Regulatory environment

Fixed network operators

Telecommunications infrastructure

Smart infrastructure

Appendix – Historic data

Related reports