Communiqué de presse

ARCEP visits the Auvergne region

Paris, 22 July 2011

ARCEP Chairman, Jean-Ludovic Silicani, along with Executive Board members Joëlle Toledano and Jérôme Coutant, will be travelling to the Auvergne region in response to an invitation from the region’s prefect, Francis Lamy, and the Chairman of the Conseil regional, René Souchon.

This visit will provide ARCEP with a chance to engage in discussions with regional authorities (prefect, region, departments and district councils) involved in drafting the regional digital development blueprint – referred to in France as SDTAN (schéma directeur territorial d’aménagement numérique) – and the broadband and ultra-fast broadband partnership scheme being piloted by the region which will make 100% of households eligible for multi-device triple play solutions by 2025.

This meeting should also allow ARCEP and local elected officials to discuss the operational conditions surrounding the implementation of the regulatory framework that ARCEP adopted recently – i.e. for fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) rollouts in more sparsely populated areas and increasing connection speeds through access to the incumbent carrier’s copper sub-loop.

ARCEP representatives will take this opportunity to present and offer copies of its handbook on optical fibre rollouts across France, which is aimed at local elected officials and local authorities and which the Authority released on its website today.

The delegation will also visit two technical installations created on the initiative of local authorities, in the company of the carriers involved in their operation.

ARCEP members will also travel to Orbeil to view a dead-zone subscriber connection point (NRA zone d’ombre) which is characteristic of the installations deployed as part of the broadband partnership agreement that the region signed with France Telecom back in 2007.

They will then visit an experimental ultra-fast broadband site in Issoire, which has been selected as a pilot project for the national ultra-fast broadband programme. One of the site’s particular features is the presence of four national operators. This is an essential point as collaboration between carriers and local authorities is crucial to the success of a public-initiative network.

With this visit and the publication of its handbook for elected officials, ARCEP is renewing its commitment to and support for local authorities. The Authority is also working to facilitate the implementation of the regulatory framework and to ensure a smooth and steady transition to ultra-fast broadband across the country.

The handbook on optical fibre rollouts nationwide, aimed at local elected officials and local authorities, is available on our website.