With 90% of premises passed for fibre access, most public-initiative networks (PIN) have entered into the operational phase. Several fibre infrastructure operators and contracting public authorities have alerted Arcep to problems they have encountered in recovering their costs when marketing public-initiative FttH networks. As result, they are planning to increase the prices charged to access their network.
It is in this context that Arcep is launching a public consultation to help obtain an objective account of the costs assumed during these networks’ operational phase.
Arcep’s goal is to enable the sector’s stakeholders to have a shared and objective view of network running costs, to ensure the economic sustainability of public-initiative networks.
The modelling work carried out to this end could facilitate local authorities’ and Arcep’s examination of rate application files, and will serve as benchmarks during possible future negotiations between infrastructure operators and commercial operators. It will also help create the conditions for healthy competition during the public service contract renewal procedures that are due to begin at the end of the decade.
Creating a common framework for analysing public-initiative networks’ operating costs
The aim of this consultation is to provide a common analytical framework and to recover data generated by operators’ experience, and thereby contribute to establishing an objective cost benchmark that is shared by stakeholders. This work is part of Arcep’s “Ambition 2030” that was laid out in January 2025, whose goal is to develop digital infrastructures “everywhere, for everyone and for a long time to come,” and whose objectives include “ensuring networks’ quality, sustainability and resilience”[1].
To establish this common analytical framework, Arcep is proposing to define the scope of relevant costs using a detailed nomenclature, and modelling methods.
A draft model of public-initiative networks’ operating and maintenance costs expected by the end of 2025
The contributions to this consultation will help inform Arcep’s investigative process, which will culminate in the release of a “benchmark model for the costs of maintaining optical fibre networks run by an efficient infrastructure operator in operational condition” by the end of 2025.
The prices for accessing FttH networks were established primarily in long-term, so-called “co-investment” agreements signed between infrastructure operators and commercial operators. Any possible changes to them will be subject to the agreement of the contracting local authorities, and to the oversight of Arcep which is responsible for ensuring compliance with the principles set by the regulatory framework: the prices must be reasonable and adhere to the principles of non-discrimination, objectivity, relevance and efficiency.
Reponses to the public consultation must be submitted before 10 October 2025.
Associated documents