ARCEP's decision on the terms and methods for deploying and accessing ultra high-speed optical fibre electronic communications lines in very densely populated areas has been published in the Official Journal of 17 January 2010 

Paris, 18 January 2010

ARCEP is pleased to note the publication of its decision on the terms and methods for deploying and accessing ultra high-speed optical fibre electronic communications lines in very densely populated areas, in the Official Journal of 17 January 2010.

Derived from this decision and a recommendation which has also been made public, the regulatory framework will help to stimulate investments in very densely populated areas in France, and to put the principle of infrastructure sharing into practice on a large scale. Operators now have one month to publish their access offers, detailing the technical and pricing terms of their current and future, shared fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network rollouts.

As called upon to do so by the Prime Minister in his speech today, ARCEP will continue its efforts in this area, and aims to complete the regulatory framework that will govern rollouts outside of very densely populated areas in 2010. Some of the provisions contained in the decision published today in fact apply to the entire country, notably the obligation to provide a passive access offer from the shared access point and the principles concerning pricing