Arcep and Arcom are publishing the fourth edition of their common Digital Society Index. This new edition updates and completes key data on digital use and practices in France.
The Digital Society Index, which is the fruit of the collaboration between Arcep and Arcom, via their joint Digital Division, delivers a quantified snapshot of fixed and mobile network rollouts, internet access, households’ device ownership profiles, internet and audiovisual service use, and digital technologies’ environmental footprint.
This fourth edition incorporates new topics, such as virtual reality headset ownership, the use of online press and artificial intelligence (AI), information on social media, on-demand audiovisual media services providers’ spending on original content, and revenue sharing between traditional and new media players. The “Digital and the environment” section has also been expanded to include data on device manufacturers’ and data centre operators’ environmental footprint, along with an analysis of internet routers’ and set-top boxes’ energy consumption.
Superfast fixed and mobile networks: fibre and 5G rollouts and adoption rates continue to progress
The index underscores the ongoing progress in superfast fixed internet access deployments and subscription numbers, due entirely to FttH. At the end of 2023, two thirds of all broadband subscribers had a fibre plan (or 21.4 million fibre subscriptions). 5G rollouts are also gathering pace, as are the number of active users on 5G networks which reached 14 million in Q4 2024, or 17% of all mobile SIM cards.
Households more and more connected and better equipped, using a growing array of internet and audiovisual services
Nine out of 10 people in France use the internet. In 2023, smartphones remained the device of choice for accessing the Web and the trend keeps on growing: 85% of the population access the internet via their smartphone (+ 3 points YoY). At the same time, the internet is being used for a growing array of practices: the percentage of regular online press readers is rising (60% of the population ages 12 and up in 2023, + 4 points in three years) and more and more people are using artificial intelligence (20% of people in France in 2023).
Televisions and smartphones are the main devices used at home to watch video content (for 90% and 80% of French households, respectively). If TV and smartphone ownership is levelling off, a sign that the market has reached maturity, smart TV ownership rates continue to climb: more than half of all households own a connected television (53%, + 4 points YoY).
In terms of practices, shifts in media consumption habits and the transition to digital platforms are both ongoing phenomena with, on the one hand, the decrease in individual TV viewing time continuing on through 2023 and, on the other, live TV viewing remaining predominant on connected TVs (regardless of connection method: smart TV, internet router…). On connected TVs, time spent watching both linear and non-linear programming is tending to increase, especially among smart TV owners. After years of tremendous growth for video on demand (VoD), subscription rates nevertheless appear to be levelling off (56% of people in France have a VoD subscription, which is comparable to 2022 figures).
Environmental footprint of digital practices
The Digital Society Index highlights new indicators such as internet routers’ and set-top boxes’ energy consumption. These home boxes consume a great deal of energy: their annual power consumption represented 0.7% of total power consumption in France in 2022, and is three times greater than fixed networks’ consumption.
Meanwhile, the decrease in the volume of new devices released onto the market in 2022 could help reduce device manufacturers’ environmental footprint. This decrease could nevertheless be offset by the increased size of devices’ displays, which increases their impact on the environment. In addition to which, the percentage of telecom operators’ handset sales that are refurbished devices remains very small: 4% compared to 25% for other sales channels.
Associated documents:
• Arcep – Arcom Digital Society Index
• 2024 - Key data from the Arcep – Arcom Digital Society Index
Arcep – Arcom joint Digital Division
Created in March 2020, the purpose of the Arcep – Arcom joint Digital Division is to deepen technical, economic and environmental analyses of digital markets, and to help the two NRAs carry out their digital market regulation mandates.
The Digital Market Index is one of the Arcep – Arcom Digital Division’s outputs. Its purpose is to provide the public with common reference data on digital practices in France. By aggregating data from different established sources, it provides quantified and centralised information on fixed and mobile network deployments, internet access, households’ device ownership profiles, internet and audiovisual service use, and digital technologies’ environmental footprint.
The joint Division has an established work programme, and the agreement signed on 2 March 2020 stipulates alternating coordination duties between the two institutions. Anne Yvrande-Billon, Arcep’s Director of Economics, markets and digital affairs, has been the joint Digital Division’s coordinator since 1 July 2023, for a period of one year. Bruno Schmutz, Arcom’s Director of Studies, economic affairs and forward-planning is her main counterpart at Arcom.
To find out more:
• Presentation of the Arcep-Arcom joint division on the Arcep website
• Presentation of the Arcep- Arcom joint division on the Arcom website