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 2018, operator data to Q3 2018, recent market developments.
Companies mentioned in this report:
Orange, Iliad (Free), Altice, SFR, Numéricable
Table of Contents
1. Synopsis
2. Key statistics
3. Country overview
4. Telecommunications market
4.1 Market analysis
5. Regulatory environment
5.1 History
5.2 National legal framework
5.3 France NumErique 2012
5.4 Regulatory authority
5.4.1 Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARCEP)
5.5 Telecom sector liberalisation
5.5.1 Privatisation of Orange Group
5.5.2 Interconnect
5.5.3 Access
5.5.4 Number Portability (NP)
5.5.5 Carrier PreSelection (CPS)
6. Fixed network operators
6.1 Orange Group
6.1.1 Essentials 2020
6.2 Altice France
6.3 Free (Iliad)
6.4 Bouygues Telecom
7. Telecommunications infrastructure
7.1 National telecom network
7.2 International infrastructure
7.2.1 Submarine cable networks
7.2.2 Satellite networks
7.2.3 Cloud services
8. Smart infrastructure
8.1 Internet of Things (IoT)
8.2 Smart Cities
9. Related reports
Table 1 – Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities - France – 2018 (e)
Table 2 – Telecom service investment – 2002 - 2017
Table 3 – End-user traffic volume in minutes by sector – 2002 - 2018
