Arcep performs audits of infrastructure operators’ Fibre-to-the-Home (FttH) network information systems. The purpose of these audits is to ensure that commercial operators are all being treated in a non-discriminatory manner, regardless of whether they are integrated with the infrastructure operator.
After having audited Orange’s FttH information systems for the first time in 2017, then a second time in 2018 and 2019 to produce an assessment of the actions announced by Orange[1], Arcep performed similar audits on SFR[2] in 2021 and on the Iliad group[3] in 2023 and 2024.
In accordance with the commitments it made to the Government regarding its FttH rollout area[4], Orange reported that all of the buildings that were not yet passed for fibre, and whose access was not being blocked or refused by a third party, would be connectable upon request as of June 2024, thereby committing to connecting these buildings within six months of receiving an order from a commercial operator.
The implementation of Orange’s commitments thus led to a very significant increase in the number of premises that were connectable upon request, thereby magnifying the issues surrounding orders for access to these premises. This is why the Authority performed an audit of the information systems for the Orange premises classified as being connectable upon request, the results of which it is publishing today.
The audit examined the tools that Orange uses to provide information on premises that are connectable upon request, on orders, and on order validation and notification of order processing. Rights management for order processing tools was included in the scope of the audit, from a cross-corporate perspective. Lastly, particular attention was given to Orange’s implementation of order quotas.
The audit revealed that the entire order processing chain for premises that are connectable upon request operates based on common tools, with no possibility for Orange’s commercial operator teams to circumvent them. The quota system appears to operate in an egalitarian fashion, with no operator obtaining preferential treatment over the others.
Importance of operational processes within the framework of fibre network sharing: key to safeguarding fair and effective competition for the benefit of users
By law, FttH networks deployed in France are shared between operators. The operational processes governing access to these networks must therefore be non-discriminatory, to ensure that the operators that use them are on an equal footing with the operator that built the network.
It is especially important in the case of integrated operators to ensure that they do not benefit, wittingly or unwittingly, from facilitated management conditions compared to other operators accessing their networks and contributing to their financing.
To this end, through Article 8 of its Decision No. 2020-1432, the Authority requires that, without exception, vertically integrated operators use the same information tools as those offered to third-party operators, as well as common processes, to ensure equal treatment.
Associated document
[4] Those parts of the country where the Government has issued a call for investment letters of intent, known as "zones AMII”