Arcep performs regular audits of infrastructure operators’ Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) network information systems (IS). The purpose of these audits is to ensure that parties requesting access to this infrastructure are all being treated in a non-discriminatory manner, and especially that network operators do not favour their own retail branches. As part of this work on Orange, SFR and Iliad FttH networks, an audit was performed on the SI installed by Orange, as the owner of civil engineering infrastructures (underground ducts, poles, etc.), for the provision of access to these infrastructures used for fibre deployment.
Overall satisfactory results
The audit performed by Arcep sought to ensure that, for comparable services, third-party operators deploying fibre, as well as Orange, as the operator of FttH infrastructure, and Orange Concessions, all have access to the same information using the same tools and processes, with equivalent rules and turnaround times.
Regarding the supply of prior information, and for most of the access ordering path, the audit did not reveal any discriminatory situation: third-party operators, Orange and Orange Concessions all use the same operational systems and are subject to identical processing rules. By the same token, for after-sales services using the “eSAV” online tool, requests are filed and processed based on identical rules, using the same chain of tools. Although some Orange entities do not yet actually employ the “eSAV” system, the Orange group has committed to ensuring that, over the first six months of 2026, it will gradually be adopted company-wide, so that after-sales service requests are filed and processed under the same conditions as those offered to third-party operators.
Orange made changes to its processes following the audit
Regarding the process for ordering access lines that require work, when the requesting operator elects to do the pole replacement work itself, one aspect was identified by the audit: the rules for ordering under these circumstances were not identical for Orange IO and other IO.
The Orange group took note of this conclusion, and amended the procedures for managing these orders so that, for every operator, the ordering process for poles was based on common tools and paths. These changes were implemented in Q1 2026.
Work continues on implementing more complete indicators
Lastly, the audit highlighted the need to strengthen certain monitoring indicators, to ensure more robust management of the different stages of the path (study, order, delivery and after-sales service). The aim is, first, to strengthen the monitoring of certain processes (such as after-sales service) and, second, to apply more detailed analysis to ensure that certain performance gaps in already monitored processes (such as the rejection rate for work completion records) are not tied to the processing performed by Orange.
The Orange group took note of this conclusion, and committed to producing new indicators, or to improving existing ones, as data becomes available and when making necessary updates to the information system.
Arcep will ensure that the changes announced by the Orange group are implemented
Regulation of Orange civil engineering, a pillar of FttH network deployment and operational maintenance conditions
Civil engineering can represent up to 70% of the cost of deploying optical local loops. In Metropolitan France, Orange has 13 million overhead infrastructure installations and 560,000 kilometres of underground infrastructure. The density of this network, which is economically impossible to replicate, means that these infrastructure inputs are indispensable for ensuring nationwide coverage for ultrafast electronic communications services. For infrastructure operators, it is therefore imperative to have access to these infrastructures under decent technical and economic conditions, to enable them to deploy then maintain high quality networks at affordable prices across the entire country.
In this context, the operational processes for accessing these infrastructures must be implemented under non-discriminatory conditions for every applicant operator. It is especially important to ensure that Orange and Orange Concessions, both of which deploy FttH networks in a portion of the national territory, do not enjoy more favourable conditions than those applied to all other operators (turnaround time, processing stages, tools used, level of information available, etc.).
To this end, in Articles 9, 10 and 11 of its Decision No. 2023-2801, Arcep stipulates a set of non-discrimination obligations for Orange, regarding access to its civil engineering infrastructures. These provisions cover the conditions under which Orange can use its infrastructures for its own needs, and require that the processes, tools and information made available to other operators are equivalent to those supplied to Orange entities.