Only the speech delivered is authentic
Members of Parliament,
Local elected officials,
Independent administrative authority chairs,
Heads of government services, Stage agency heads,
Presidents and CEOs of regulated sector companies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for coming, and in such great numbers – which is a testament to your interest in the work that Arcep does.
My talk this year is going to focus on Arcep’s new strategy, the fruit of the work that I announced to you all last year.
Before that, however, I would like to extend my most heartfelt thanks to François Lions who left the Arcep Board three weeks ago, after devoting 32 years to regulation. That’s really something. And I would even venture to say that it is virtually unique. As a Board member, François had a view on regulation that knew how to see things from a different angle, different from an operational, academic or administrative perspective. One of François’s key messages that will stay with me is to always look at the costs. Costs, costs, always the costs, for effective regulation.
I would also like to say a special word of thanks to Emmanuel Gabla who will be leaving the Arcep Board in a couple of weeks. Emmanuel has been very involved in the work of BEREC, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications. You know of Arcep’s singular role in BEREC, and the importance of the interactions we have there. Deeply appreciated by our fellow regulators, Emmanuel was elected Vice-chair in 2022. His in-depth knowledge of how Europe works, and his natural diplomacy made Emmanuel a tremendous asset in this commitment, but also in Arcep Board discussions.
And Maya Bacache, having passed the Open Competition for “maitre de requêtes” Council at the Court of Auditors with flying colours, left the Board in July 2024. I thank her most sincerely for all of her economic expertise during her five years at Arcep.
Three departures in 2024 and two arrivals thus far: I’ll take this opportunity to welcome the arrival of Marie-Christine Servant, appointed by the President of the Senate in February 2024, to succeed Joëlle Cottenye, and of Mireille Clapot, former Deputy for the Drome, appointed by the President of the National Assembly in October 2024 to succeed Maya Bacache. Many of you know them already: both are engineers; through their careers both have acquired solid expertise in our subjects and a strong knowledge of the regulated players and relations with local authorities.
Arcep also got a new Director-General in 2024. Cécile Dubarry left us to head up the Institut Mines Télécoms. Her work and management abilities, her skills, her innovative thinking and finesse in decision-making are legendary, so I will say no more: she made an outstanding contribution to the Authority. Thank you, Cécile.
Thank you as well to Olivier Corolleur, our new Director-General, for the fluidity and continuity he brings to Arcep’s management, for his trademark verve and serenity that we all greatly appreciate.
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For close to three decades, Arcep has been regulating the communication networks (telecoms, postal, press…) at the heart of French people’s daily lives. It is devoted to the continual improvement of fixed and mobile connectivity and the quality of postal services. It establishes the conditions conducive to fair and effective competition and innovation, taking regional development public policy objectives into account.
Before presenting our new strategy, I would like to take a minute to explain why I thought a review was necessary. Quite simply: the time was right. More specifically:
It was the right time because of changes in electronic communications markets, which are reaching a level of maturity, and where the competition dynamic is well entrenched. Nobody can say otherwise, and we will naturally continue to ensure that this remains true.
It’s also the right time because of changes in network technologies: these past several years have seen the massive deployment of fibre, the widespread availability of 4G, the deployment of 5G, networks beginning to move to the cloud, the development of direct-to-device satellite services, but also the switchoff of the legacy copper network, and the announced shutdown of 2G and 3G mobile technologies…
Connectivity is an issue that naturally remains a top priority in Arcep’s new strategy. Every user must have access to high-quality and affordable ultrafast fixed and mobile connectivity.
Essential progress has been made in the area of connectivity since the latest strategic review, with the New Deal for Mobile, 5G rollouts and fibre deployments, thanks to which more than 90% of premises in France are now passed for FttH. These advances are undeniable. They have been made possible by operators, by their investments, but also by local authorities and the Government which set the goal of making fibre available in those parts of the country where private investment alone would not suffice. They have also been made possible by a regulatory framework that promotes efficient investment, as recently underscored by a comparative study by JP Morgan.
I’ll say it again, ubiquitous fibre access is the measure of the “France Très Haut débit” superfast rollout scheme’s success. Everyone here is aware of their own commitments and responsibilities. So I will not dwell on them. It is vital that rollout completeness obligations, of which Arcep is the guarantor, be met.
The copper network cannot be switched off in a municipality that does not yet have complete fibre coverage. We will closely monitor both of these objectives.
We believe that the switchover to fibre is an opportunity to reshuffle the deck on competition in the business market and, in keeping with our prerogatives, we will ensure that wholesale solutions and pricing conditions make that possible.
It is the right time to review our strategy, which is further spurred by users’ changing expectations, whether our fellow citizens, our businesses or our local authorities: decent connectivity is not just a good thing, it is a necessity, vital to every individual and to the economic life of our country. Quite simply, this is why I made network quality one of Arcep’s top priorities as soon as I arrived.
I’ll repeat what I said to stakeholders at the ceremony in December: the aim is simple. We must not have to rebuild in ten years what you all have built together, and which public funding has gone a long way to enabling. Our shared ambition is that the fibre networks can be looked upon in 30 years as an example of work done right.
Which is why I am delighted to see signs of improvement in the 4th edition of the Fibre QoS scorecard, which Arcep published in mid-November. We are seeing the first fruits of XpFibre and Altitude’s network rehabilitation plans, but also of the work that the entire sector has done on the quality of service calls. In 2025, we will be incorporating new indicators to more accurately reflect the user experience, as well as the “STOC” (commercial operator sub-contracting) mode for every operator.
Future-proofing fibre networks does not only mean high quality operations and service calls, but also medium and long-term financial stability, which is a source of concern for a great many local authorities. It is a major, large-scale undertaking, and one that requires operators’ and affected local authorities’ full cooperation. We will incorporate the work of classifying fibre network operating costs into our strategy, which can serve as a reference for the sector.
It's also the right time to review our strategy, in light of the gradual arrival of the new responsibilities that the legislator has entrusted to Arcep: this includes regulation of the press distribution sector, taking digital technology’s impact on the environment into account, regulating data intermediaries and cloud service providers.
Regarding press distribution, we want to make the profession of newsagent more attractive, as it is key to achieving the goal of pluralism, and to the entire sector’s economic equilibrium. This is why, starting with a guidance note, Arcep asked the sector to submit collective proposals for updating newsagents’ remuneration scheme, with a view to an Arcep decision on the matter this summer.
We will also support changes in the sector being overseen by the Government, in our role of regulator and in keeping with the responsibilities entrusted to us by Law. We also want to produce a map of newsagent locations, and track its evolution, thereby continuing to flesh out our arsenal of data-driven regulatory tools. Lastly, we believe it would be interesting to work on the technical-economic issues surrounding digital access to the press, as well as generative AI’s impact on Net neutrality, and so on every user’s ability to access the content of their choice, notably press publications.
Regarding digital technology’s environmental footprint, we continue to work on deepening our understanding of its impacts, notably by steadily expanding our environmental data collection: equipment suppliers and submarine cable manufacturers this year, and additional digital sector players in the coming years. This data collection is the only one of its kind in Europe, and no doubt the world. It is a powerful tool that the legislator wanted, to be able to track the sector’s impact on the environment over time, and thus able to determine as accurately as possible the relevant actions to take. We think that the right level of intervention is the European level, and we will strengthen our proposed action plans to this end, notably on the ecodesign of digital services.
Thanks to the innovations they usher in, these services naturally have the potential to provide technical solutions to climate change, and Arcep will contribute to the work that ADEME and the Government are doing in this area.
But it is not because digital services are “apparently” virtual that their development does not have a very real impact on the environment, on the increasing number of data centres, on network expansion and users’ switching digital devices. The growing uses of artificial intelligence and its impact on the need for computing power, energy consumption and device replacement all testify to this. The use of efficient video codecs, limiting autoplay and infinite scrolling, maintaining operating systems for a device’s entire lifespan, and the development of more sustainable AI all appear to us to be best practices to uphold in future European regulations. And we are committed to doing so.
Added to which, Arcep’s key role of economic regulator was further strengthened by the new responsibilities it was entrusted by the legislator in 2024: facilitating the emergence of new players in the cloud computing market, and developing innovation through data sharing.
It is therefore the right time for a renewed impetus, to chart an ambitious course for Arcep, and to provide you with clarity on our roadmap for the coming years.
Arcep’s “Ambition 2030” is to ensure that the country is equipped with digital infrastructures for the coming decades, and that the internet remains an area of freedoms. These infrastructures for accessing the fixed and mobile internet, the cloud and AI services, and for sharing data must be accessible everywhere, to everyone and for a long time to come.
Everywhere
Arcep’s ambition is for everyone in France to enjoy high quality services, and for connectivity to satisfy this imperative of universality. This is not a new but rather a renewed ambition. I have already mentioned it. We will therefore work to ensure the quality and availability of every network for every citizen nationwide. We will also help French businesses become more competitive: first in the area of connectivity, via fibre and private mobile networks, but also by giving them a wider choice of cloud services and by facilitating data sharing between businesses.
To everyone
To increase users’ freedom of choice and to lay the groundwork for unleashing innovation, from its inception Arcep’s actions have been geared to fostering more open networks and digital infrastructures: fair competition for fixed and mobile electronic communication services, and an open internet. By the same token, we will work to safeguard the development of fair and effective competition in digital markets, through regulation tailored to cloud services. We will lend our expertise to deliberations over the development of artificial intelligence, in France and in Europe. Net neutrality watchdog, Arcep will promote the view that this neutrality should be extended to other links in the digital chain: smartphones, gatekeeper platforms, the cloud and generative AI must adhere to certain principles to ensure that the internet remains open, to guarantee freedom of expression and the freedom to innovate.
For a long time to come
We will work to build a sustainable digital environment, and thereby guarantee future generations’ ability to also reap the benefits of digital technology. Accessing the internet has become crucial for each and every one of us, for the overall functioning of our economy and our society. It is thus vital to ensure that our digital infrastructures are future-proof and resilient; Arcep will participate in the discussions on this topic initiated by local authorities and the Government, along with discussions on digital sovereignty. We will also contribute to setting the trajectory for digital sustainability, ensuring that digital development continues to align with the critical objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement, despite the announcements made yesterday on the other side of the Atlantic.
Through this new positioning, through its regulation and the voice it lends to Europe and internationally, Arcep will continue safeguarding the conditions for making digital an instrument for good, working to empower individuals, to make our businesses competitive, and for our society as a whole.
It might be useful for me to shed some light on what we mean by “digital as an instrument for good”.
I see you smiling. But I’m sure that all of you, and those around you, well beyond Arcep’s focal issues, are seeing growing discontent and concerns about digital technology. Discontent about fibre outages, about service restoration times, concerns about young and less young people’s screen time and addictions, about large platforms’ influence over our democracies and our economies, about cybersecurity and sovereignty issues, concerns about climate and environmental issues…
So to be very concrete about what “digital as an instrument for good” might mean, let me project us into the year 2030.
In 2030, digital must once again be a source of inspiration and synonymous with human progress; the irritants of 2024 have disappeared and been supplanted by its advantages and a better user experience. It is conceived and designed in a sustainable fashion, thanks to the efforts of operators, equipment suppliers, digital service providers, so that future generations too can reap the benefits.
At home, even though you live in the country, you have fully reliable and competitively priced fibre access, you enjoy Voice over Wi-Fi, and every family member has a more than five-year-old smartphone, which has not become obsolete as soon as a new technology is introduced. Every day, you take the commuter train, and you can work or play thanks to its high quality mobile connectivity.
Of course, your children use their smartphones to communicate with their friends, and use social media sites which have become open and interoperable. They are protected by parental control systems and not subject to an endless stream of addictive content.
Simply put, everyone will be able to choose, and will be able to make informed choices about which AI tools they prefer to use, each tailored to their digital lifestyles.
Your parents experienced the copper network switchoff: well-informed, they were able to subscribe to a service that aligned with their habits, whether a simple telephone or a fibre internet plan.
This may seem naïve or simplistic: but these are the use cases that reflect the lives our fellow citizens, and we need to keep them in mind when carrying out our plans.
In other words, the digital environment that we are committed to constructing:
- Does not lock people in to closed ecosystems, but frees them instead;
- Does not confine developers to any given platform, able to access only those customers, but instead gives everyone the opportunity to take advantage of their innovation;
- Does not exhaust our planet’s resources day by day, but instead preserves them.
I’ll say it again: our ambition is to equip the country with digital infrastructures for the coming decades; to ensure that they are deployed everywhere, to everyone, and for a long time to come.
You will see when reading the brochure that will be handed out later that we have built this ambition around nine strategic objectives and three courses of action. This is to provide you with concrete details on what we are going to do, and how we are going to do it, to give you the clarity you need for your operations.
We will of course continue our work in the press distribution sector, as I mentioned earlier, and on postal issues, by lending our expertise to public authorities: whether to assess the net cost of the universal postal service mandate, or regional digital development public service and mail delivery mandates; whether to assess the quality of service of these areas of responsibility or through our opinions on pricing submitted to the Government on proposed changes to La Poste postal rates.
Just before I finish, I would like to stress this point: these are ambitious goals, and we will of course not act alone to achieve them.
I would also like to thank each and every one of you for your contribution to our work throughout the year, and to express how much we count on you. Our regulatory decisions are informed by this ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, with their ecosystems, with elected officials – both members of Parliament and local authorities – and with users, with civil society and with other State institutions. They are also informed by the reports you pass on to us. These are not hollow words, but something of a hallmark of the ex-ante regulation that Arcep has put into place.
I would also like to thank the Authority Chairs and Directors, the heads of State agencies and departments, and their teams, with whom we have digital in common, be it Arcom, CNIL, the Competition Authority, ANSII, as well as the DGE, DGCCRF, ADEME, ANFR and CNES. The mutual understanding of our respective objectives, the frequency and quality of our interactions and the expertise that each one brings to our discussions are vital to us, and only improve the quality of Arcep’s work, in both a forward-looking fashion and in our decision-making.
So we all have a lot of work to do: it is a wonderful opportunity for us to take action together for the sake of our fellow citizens and our businesses.
Finally, in conclusion, allow me to salute the commitment of Arcep’s teams.
An Authority is nothing without the men and women who commit to it every day, to understanding regulated stakeholders’ issues and challenges as well as users’ needs, to listening to members of Parliament and elected officials, to forward-looking thinking about the evolution of technologies and markets.
My sincere thanks to each and every Arcep staff member, every department head, every Board member, for their commitment, for devoting their skills, their expertise, their rigor and their professionalism to our regulatory objectives and our strategy.
On behalf of the Arcep Executive Board, I wish you all the very best for this new year. I wish you an iron constitution – something that is so vital – a great deal of joy and happiness – it is the spice of life – and every success in all of your personal and professional endeavours in 2025.