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Fixed broadband and ultra-fast broadband regulation in France

French regulatory framework for Very High Capacity Networks (VHCN)

Regulation of fixed broadband and ultra-fast broadband markets in France serves several purposes: fostering effective competition between operators, encouraging investment in infrastructure, ensuring widespread access to digital services, and overseeing the transition from the legacy copper network to optical fibre networks.

For many years, broadband in France was built on the copper network operated by Orange. To open the market up, Arcep applied what’s known as asymmetric regulation—rules aimed specifically at an operator with significant market power. Orange was therefore required to offer local loop unbundling, giving alternative providers access to the copper network. Regulation on Orange’s network is ensured through market analyses every 5 years and unbundling regulation includes obligations in particular on pricing, transparency and service quality.

The shift to fibre local loops has changed the regulatory landscape. Unlike copper, which was a single nationwide network, fibre is rolled out by multiple public and private players, often through co-investment. Here, regulation is symmetric: all operators deploying fibre are subject to the same obligations to share their infrastructure on fair and transparent terms, regardless of their size or market power. This ensures other network operators can use the last segment of the optical fibre networks while still encouraging investment and avoiding wasteful duplication of infrastructure.

The deployment of FttH networks in France also relies on obligations relating to access to Orange’s existing civil engineering infrastructure (ducts, poles, etc.), on or within which optical fibre cables are installed. These obligations stem in particular from the analysis of the physical infrastructure market.

In practice, this means asymmetric regulation continues to apply to Orange’s copper network and civil engineering infrastructure, while symmetric regulation increasingly shapes the fibre market. This dual approach maintains fair competition on the legacy network while supporting the gradual migration to fibre, as Orange is currently in the process of switching off its copper network.

Focus on the symmetric framework

A fibre-to-the-home (FttH) network refers to a set of fiber-optic lines that connect end-users to the networks of electronic communications service providers. In France, article L.34-8-3 of the French Postal and Electronic Communications Code (CPCE) created a principle of FttH network sharing for the final portion of the network. Any operator that builds or manages a network (“infrastructure operator” or “building operator” (OI)) must grant access to network operators providing electronic communications services (“commercial operators” (OC)) at the concentration point (PM for Point de Mutualisation in French), as close as possible to the end-user (depending on the area’s density).

In accordance with this article, Arcep has defined conditions for access to FttH networks through a number of decisions and recommendations that constitute the “symmetric framework” (as opposed to the asymmetric framework, which results from market analyses and applies solely to Orange as the operator with significant market power in the relevant markets). This framework specifies the passive access schemes that OIs are required to offer for OCs (co-investment and rental), and also sets out a number of obligations concerning pricing, network architecture, etc.

FttH Network Architecture

FttH Network Architecture

Arcep publishes the report on a study conducted by the consulting firm, Plum, whose remit was to provide an assessment of the so-called symmetric regulation that has been in force since 2009, governing the deployment of optical fibre, or FttH (Fibre-to-the-Home), networks in France.

• 28 October 2025 : Arcep press release

The study begins with a summary of the symmetric regulatory framework. It then delivers an accounting of the results of this framework. The assessment is a positive one with respect to the key objectives being pursued across Europe: in terms of FttH deployment across France, of investment efficiency, competition between operators, as well as consumer prices. The Plum study then compares the French model with the one applied in other EU Member States, and maps out the potential effects of regulatory changes through multiple scenarios.