The Post, Arcep's monthly newsletter

From one (good) plan to another

In 1974, France was lagging behind in telecoms network deployment. In those days, the aim was to enable French people and businesses to be able to use the telephone. The government at the time became aware that the country was behind both its neighbours and internationally, even though France had once been a pioneer, with the first phone call having been made in 1879, three years after Bell’s invention in the United States. A “catch-up” plan was therefore launched by the government to bridge this gap. Four years later, the ten millionth subscriber was connected.

Today, a different plan is underway, the “Plan France Très Haut Débit” superfast broadband rollout scheme. By providing everyone in France with a fibre connection, it too is proving a revolution in connectivity for everyone in France and in modernising our businesses. We are at a key moment in this large-scale project, whose success rests on four major achievements:

• Finalising complete deployments;
• Making the transition from “connectable” to “connected” to fibre;
• Ensuring the switch off of the legacy copper network under good conditions;
• Safeguarding the operating conditions of public-initiative networks.

All of this must be achieved with a level of quality that aligns with the expectations of the people of France! The latest edition of Arcep’s scorecard reveals that improved quality, which is noticeable on most networks, appears well entrenched. This is good news, but a great deal of work still needs to be done, and the sector must stay the course.

Completeness: a recommendation to give the market clarity

In keeping with its commitment, Arcep published a recommendation in April on FttH network rollouts to provide operators with clarifications on the implementation of the obligation of completeness that applies to fibre deployments. These include clarifications on the notion of refusal or blocking by third parties for which infrastructure operators are not responsible, the notion of a freeze on subscription sales… Adopting these best practices will make it possible to verify compliance with rollout completeness obligations.

Making the transition from connectable to connected: reminders and a new mechanism

If the infrastructure operator is responsible for installing complex connections on public land, making the transition from “connectable” to “connected” sometimes fails, because of the civil engineering work that needs to be done on private property. Arcep welcomes the Government’s publication of an experimental support mechanism for households aimed at connection work carried out on private property, for premises included in batches 1 and 2 of the copper switchoff plan.

PIN operating conditions: tell us everything

To ensure transparency on the operating conditions of public-initiative networks (PIN), and inform discussions on the issues surrounding their business models, on 25 July Arcep launched a broad consultation on the economic conditions for maintaining fibre networks in proper operating condition in areas covered by public initiative. We invite infrastructure operators to provide us with information on their network operating costs. This is a key part of the process! Based on this information, we will be able to provide a benchmark cost model, to facilitate the renewal of public service contracts and negotiations between stakeholders.

Copper network switchoff: a pivotal moment in January 2026

In 2022, France’s incumbent carrier, Orange presented its switchoff plan for the county’s legacy copper network. This is a landmark undertaking for the entire sector and for the French population. In January 2025, a first batch of copper lines was successfully technically decommissioned: the commitment of every party involved, operators and local authorities, was key to this success. Next January, the lines of around 880,000 premises will be technically decommissioned. One of Arcep’s priorities in this process: businesses’ migration to fibre must be planned with particular care. Another key stage next January: the network’s commercial switchoff in 90% of the municipalities representing 70% of all copper lines. The main challenge is finalising fibre rollouts before that deadline. This stage and the copper network switchoff in general will be pivotal moment in the success of fibre.

Mobile networks also in a transitional stage

Two challenges lie ahead for mobile networks: successfully decommissioning 2G and 3G networks under good conditions, and ensuring equal access in every part of the country, including the overseas territories.

Operators have opted for a gradual sunsetting of 2G and 3G networks launched in the 1990s, starting in late 2026. This global trend is driven by the reduction of active devices on the oldest networks, and the availability of more energy-efficient and more secure 4G and 5G networks. Because operators’ obligations are attached to frequencies and not to any given technology, decommissioning 2G and 3G networks is not likely to affect mobile network coverage. The key issue lies in migrating 2G and 3G equipment that is not compatible with 4G or 5G. To monitor this progress, Arcep has enhanced its observatory of SIM card use: as of Q2 2025, there were still 5.9 million SIM cards installed in devices that are only “2G” or “3G/2G” compatible. Arcep is especially attentive to the actions that operators are implementing to make their customers aware of the upcoming retirement of 2G and 3G technologies, to offer them solutions tailored to their needs and, when necessary, to help them take the necessary actions to prepare for this sunset.

Moreover, to increase the availability of 4G and 5G in France’s overseas territories, Arcep performed multiple spectrum assignments in 2024 and 2025, issuing more than 30 decisions. As a result, operators now have spectrum holdings that should enable them to increase mobile coverage and quality of service considerably in the overseas departments and territories.

Beyond connectivity: the data and cloud access stakes

Planning regional digital development also means thinking about access to data and the cloud, for both local authorities and businesses. Based on a series of exchanges with stakeholders, we held a public consultation on what we believed to be the best practices for cloud service providers to adopt in terms of interoperability and portability. The goal is to open up the market and make it more competitive, by making it easier for users to switch providers and for multi-cloud environments to develop. We will lobby for this approach to the European Commission, to help in the rapid implementation of the Data Act provisions for which it has been responsible since 12 September 2025.

On the data front, Arcep awarded two service providers the EU recognised data intermediary label in 2025. Nine have notified themselves to us, or around a third of all data intermediaries in the European Union. This should enable them to expand their business, and especially to make certain information more easily available to their users, for instance airport and space-related data.

2025 marks the first year in the implementation of Arcep’s new “Ambition 2030” strategy. All of the workstreams begun and mentioned here are the first fruits of this strategy aimed at giving all of our fellow citizens and businesses access to digital infrastructures for everyone, everywhere and for a long time to come. The “Connected Territories” conference, which is expanding to include new topics (particularly cloud computing and data) and new stakeholders, is also a symbol of this evolution at Arcep, from electronic communications to digital infrastructures as a whole.

By Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière.

► The Post n° 81 - September 2025

Cloud computing digital technology, protecting minors: “The European Union is facing considerable challenges”

One year after the enactment of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Arcep, the French competition authority (Autorité de la concurrence), the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF), the French Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (Arcom), and Internet freedoms and innovation watchdog, CNIL – represented by their Chairs and Presidents – penned a joint Op-ed that was published in Les Echos on 5 June.

These institutions welcomed the concrete progress that has been made thus far, while issuing a reminder that a great deal of work still needs to be done to make Europe an open, competitive space capable of rivalling Big Tech incumbents.

The DMA requires Meta, Amazon, Apple, Google, ByteDance, Microsoft and Booking – designated by the European Commission as gatekeepers – to amend their practices to guarantee fair competition, and thereby facilitate consumers’ access to a range of services, notably those being offered by innovative startups.

To already concrete effect: several European Commission investigations into non-compliance with the DMA have been launched, two of which concluded on 23 April with fines of 500 million and 200 million euros being imposed, respectively, on Apple and Meta.

A considerable challenge that requires collective action

These fines penalise the obstacles that Apple put into place on its App Store to hinder the development of alternative offers, and Meta’s business model that requires users either to allow their personal data to be used for advertising purposes, or pay to access the service.

To ensure that European consumers and innovative tech companies are able to fully reap the benefits of the DMA, its applicability needs to be strengthened, for instance when it comes to cloud services. These services have become vital for French businesses, and increasingly so with the development of AI. A sizeable challenge, then, that must be tackled collectively in order to achieve the results our fellow citizens demand.

• To find out more: The complete Op-ed (in French) on the Arcep website

► The Post n° 79 - June 2025

“Notable improvements in fibre quality, but that still need to be confirmed nationwide”

Since the onset of optical fibre rollouts, Arcep has been documenting the progress of FttH deployment across France in its Broadband and superfast broadband scorecard. When I joined the Authority in 2016, just under 6 million premises were passed for fibre. Today, as I join Arcep’s Executive Board, that number stands at close to 41 million. This can be attributed to a collective effort by local authorities, operators and the Government, which has put France among Europe’s FttH leaders.

This rollout momentum cannot be sustained without ensuring quality. This is why Arcep equipped itself with the means to measure the quality of the fibre internet access services being provided to the French population.

The growing issue of optical fibre connection quality had become very apparent on our “J’alerte l’Arcep” reporting platform since 2019. Today, it accounts for half of the complaints filed by users and most of the reports coming from local authorities. It is an especially sensitive issues as the end-user connection is both the final stage of rollout efforts, but also the one that is most visible to the general public.

The need to preserve this common good

High-quality installations are vital not only because they determine future networks’ performance (increasingly high performance and demanding equipment will suffer even more from subpar installations), but also because of the need to safeguard this common good, aka the networks that have cost local authorities, the Government and operators billions of euros.

Based on these clear signals, starting in 2022 Arcep called on the sector to make concrete commitments to improve its practices, whether network quality standards or those of commercial operators and their service technicians. To verify compliance with these commitments, Arcep has been publishing FttH QoS indicators since 2023, in addition to relying on feedback from users through its customer satisfaction observatory.

Arcep thus offers local authorities and operators a tool for assessing this quality, acting as a compass to steer the sector in the right direction. For the first time since 2023, the rate of failures observed on the networks has decreased (see the Observatory’s detailed findings below), the number of reports concerning FttH is dropping (-11 points in 2024) and operators’ customer satisfaction scores are above 8 out of 10 for two of the country’s four main ISPs.

These notable improvements in quality must not, however, cause one to overlook persistent and local issues, and still need to be confirmed in every part of the country where quality standards have not yet been reached. I nevertheless maintain that the sector has the means to do better and that, if these efforts continue, our shared objective of high quality digital infrastructures that are accessible everywhere, to everyone and in a lasting fashion, will become a reality.

Zacharia Alahyane, member of the Arcep's executive board.

► The Post n° 78 - May 2025

“In its current state of deployment, AI represents a threat of economic subordination”

Three questions for Cédric Durand, Associate Professor of Political Economy at the University of Geneva.

What is your diagnosis of the current state of competition in AI markets?

It’s difficult to make a diagnosis as the technology’s breakneck evolution is creating a situation in constant flux. The extremely swift dissemination of ChatGPT since its launch in autumn 2022, like the eruption of Deepseek, which took most analysts by surprise, testify to this volatility. The success of Deepseek is also good news to the extent that the model is based on open source code, which means more transparency and, potentially, more innovation, less disinformation and less monopolistic behaviour.

Will open source AI models be enough to remedy competition issues?

It would be misleading to look only at AI models’ transparency, because it is when they are turned into services that intellectual monopolies take shape. They are the result of interactions and complementarities between three aspects.

The first is hardware and software infrastructures: chiefly compute and storage capacity, but also control over networks and software. We are seeing extremely rapid centralisation at this level. Cloud computing systems that provide the foundation for most of the computing and storage undergirding digital services (including those associated with AI) for consumers, businesses and the public sector, are developing very rapidly, and increasingly dominated by American Big Tech companies such as AWS (Amazon Web Services), Microsoft, Google and, to a lesser extent, Oracle, Salesforces and IBM. The rise of the Cloud brings us back to some degree to the period before personal computers, when IT capacity was mobilised remotely (utility computing). The stakes at this level are not only economic. The digital sovereignty of France and other European countries means maintaining its check capacity to be able to guarantee the integrity of government action and prevent the potential militarisation of the infrastructures at the expense of our businesses and societies. Companies in France such as [national rail company] SNCF, and Société Générale bank, but also Germany’s Ministry of the Interior all have contracts with Amazon Web Services. Given the current geopolitical situation, we should question this dependence.

The second aspect is the highly skilled and very specific work associated with AI. Both directly and indirectly, industry leaders have concentrated talent and so the capacity to innovate. The question being posed in France and in Europe therefore concerns the policy that makes it possible to attract and mobilise these workers. If the question of financial remuneration is in play, it is certainly not the only lever that can be activated: we can also concentrate R&D resources or define a framework and values that give meaning to these technological developments that are fundamental to human destiny.

The third concerns platform logic. Hyperscaling (the ability to adapt one’s infrastructures to massive demand) is based on the multiplicity of points of contact obtained through marketplaces and direct access to individuals (via devices, social media…). These points of contact provide a foothold in data-generating activities that are both original (hence scarce, albeit of varying quality) and usable for a tiny marginal cost. The barriers blocking other businesses’ – as well as government agencies and civil society’s – access to these data that generate powerful economies of scale and variety are a major driving force in monopolisation.

How can public action be effective in tackling these different aspects so that AI contributes to the greater good?

I believe it’s essential to think about how AI fits into this stack of complementarities. And what I see is AI’s increasing integration as a way to strengthen Big Tech as meta knowledge workers – a type of incarnation of Marx’s concept of a General Intellect – rather than a source of healthy competition. It is also vital to understand that the flipside of centralised AI service deployment is a loss of skills for individuals and organisations (in relative terms, and perhaps even in absolute ones, according to recent research.

Responding to these crucial challenges must go by way not only of competition policy but even more so by a classic import substitution policy that can create the ability, in Europe and beyond, to build essential digital services that offer a credible alternative to Big Tech. Roughly speaking, this involves forms of public oversight over infrastructures, a commons-based approach to marketplaces and data involving users and the scientific community and, lastly, regulation founded on the principle of Primum non nocere (“First, do no harm”). AI’s automation of knowledge-based work is clearly a source of powerful positive effects. In its current state of deployment, however, this technology represents a threat to the integrity of the body politic, a risk of desubjectification of individuals – i.e. a loss of subjective investment which renders tasks boring, including in research – a danger of lasting economic subordination to a handful of powerful corporations and a proven ecological threat.

► The Post n° 77 - March 2025

“Our ambition for 2030: outfit the country with digital infrastructures that are accessible everywhere, to everyone and for a long time to come”

We can expect to see major changes in the tech industry in the coming years. As testified by the upcoming AI Summit in February, 2025 promises to be key in shaping the sector’s future, and potentially its regulation. After dialogue-driven work with regulated stakeholders, users, local authorities and researchers, the forward-looking inquiries of the “Future Networks” committee, and the observations drawn from its agents’ expertise on the ground, I had the pleasure of unveiling Arcep’s “Ambition 2030” strategy.

It states our ambition to outfit the country with digital infrastructures for the coming decades, and to ensure that the internet remains an area of freedoms. These infrastructures providing fixed and mobile internet access, access to the cloud, to artificial intelligence and to data sharing must be accessible everywhere, to everyone and for a long time to come.

9 objectifs stratégiques

This ambition is structured around 9 strategic objectives, whose concrete implementation is detailed in this document:

• Finalise the transition to ultrafast access for everyone;
• Guarantee businesses’ connectivity and create a more competitive market;
• Ensure the quality, sustainability and resilience of electronic communications infrastructures;
• Improve and share knowledge of digital technology’s impact on the environment;
• Take action to reduce this impact;
• Foster economic development through data and innovation;
• Foster more freedom of choice in cloud services;
• Work to open digital markets and AI systems;
• Promote an updated press distribution system and showcase the value of newsagents.

Through this new positioning, through its regulation and the voice it lends to Europe and internationally, Arcep will continue creating the conditions for making digital an instrument for good, make our businesses competitive, to empower individuals, and for our society as a whole. Designed to be sustainable, it must also benefit future generations.

In other words, in 2030, digital must once again be a source of inspiration and synonymous with human progress. It must no longer hold people captive in closed ecosystems and subjected to infinite scrolls of addictive content; hamstringing developers in their work and their ability to access customers, but stimulate their capacity for innovation; exhaust our planet’s resources instead of working to preserve them.

Arcep intends on bringing this ambition to life by pooling the expertise of all of the organisations with a stake in our digital society: regulatory authorities and administrations, private sector players, civil society, academia and tech user representatives. Our Authority will continue to promote a shared understanding of the sector’s issues and challenges, and the dialogue that is so vital to our work and our decision-making.

On behalf of Arcep, I wish you all the very best for this new year.

To find out more:

• Summary of the “Ambition 2030” strategy;
• Laure de La Raudière’s speech from Arcep’s 2025 New Year’s Greetings ceremony.

By Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière.

► The Post n° 76 - January / February 2025

Multi-cloud hosting is a strategic solution for reconciling flexibility and control of dependencies

The transition to the cloud, which is at the heart of a great many digital strategies, is much more than a simple technological change: it is a veritable redefinition of the methods used to organise, to collaborate and to manage data. Driven by the promise of greater agility, speed and cost optimisation, this trend is coming up against its limitations in tackling the technical, human and strategic challenges involved. If migration plans are advancing, we need to look beyond the sales pitches and examine the nuances. As underscored in the recent Cigref report, “Migrating to the cloud: a state of the art”, there are multiple considerations involved in moving to the cloud: which workloads need to be moved and which need to remain on-premise or in dedicated data centres? Feedback from Cigref members reveal that the choice of hybrid or multi-cloud solutions provide strategic response for striking the right balance between flexibility and controlling dependency.

This transition is not only a technological one, however, and it is a business’s very structure that will be transformed. Migrating to the cloud requires a concerted effort between management, technical and special skills teams. The critical points of this transformation include managing configured hosting environments for the applications and data that have moved to the cloud.

Sylvain Waserman (Chairman of the Board of ADEME), Roch-Olivier Maistre (Arcom Chair), and Laure de La Raudière (Arcep Chair) have penned a joint Op-ed in Les Echos, calling on Europe to lead the charge on tackling digital technology’s environmental footprint, to comply with the Paris Agreement

“Smart thermostats, water leak sensors, data analysis to optimise resource consumption and preventive maintenance in manufacturing plants, smart management of buildings and energy… Digital technology is providing new solutions that can bolster the Green transition. But it also represents 10% of power consumption in France, a carbon footprint that could triple by 2050, 70 million unused devices (smartphones, TVs) that remain unrepaired and unrecycled in France…

The figures that our organisations have been publishing since 2020 are unequivocal: by now well documented, digital technology’s impact on the environment continues to grow. Worse still: the massive increase in these impacts is incompatible with the commitments that France and the European Union made under the Paris Agreement. While it remains vital to our economy, and such an essential part of our daily lives, digital technology as it stands is not sustainable.

[…] The breakneck speed at which generative AI is spreading is turning up the volume on a much-needed wake-up call. […]. Being used more and more across Europe, these services are especially energy-hungry and already consume an increasing share of the electricity needed to power data centres…

[…] This is why, with the upcoming appointment of the future European Commission and the drafting of its roadmap, [our three institutions are using this Op-ed to call on] Europe to create a framework to promote the ecodesign of digital services, a tool that will not only benefit the environment, but also the ability to compete and major societal issues such as overexposure to screens.”

To find out more:

• Read the full Op-ed
• Read La Raudière’s speech to the GreenTech Forum on Tuesday, 5 November

► The Post n° 74 - November 2024

Copper network switchoff: “a major undertaking, with no shortage of challenges for the sector”

The switchoff of the legacy copper network is one of the telecom sector’s outstanding challenges for the coming years. Both because digital technology has made its way into all aspects of our daily lives, and because being deprived of high quality internet access is an impediment to inclusion, social cohesion and territorial and citizen equity, but also because the switchover from copper to fibre is a driving force for economic competitiveness and environmental efficiency.

With 89% of its premises passed for fibre, France is among Europe’s standard-bearers. Recent forecasts that operators provided to Arcep nevertheless reveal that the timetables for fibre deployment and the copper switchoff may not be in sync in certain areas.

If Public-Initiative Networks (PIN) continue to be deployed at a steady pace, the pace is slowing in very high-density and lower density areas covered by private initiative (see Arcep’s Broadband and superfast broadband scorecard).

It is crucial to listen to the concerns of elected officials and customers (both consumers and businesses) who expect completed networks (in accordance with the regulatory framework), a product range tailored to their needs and high-quality services – without which they will remain reluctant to switch over to these fibre solutions which had initially been touted as the “very best in telecoms”.

The indicators provided by the latest Fibre QoS scorecard reveal how much still needs to be done: it is imperative that operators maintain and step up their efforts to deploy future-proof solutions. This must also be seen as an opportunity to share lessons learned and to test operational methods that differ from those recommended up to now (IO, for instance).

Lastly, close cooperation between the incumbent carrier, infrastructure operators, commercial operators and elected officials is one of the keys to the success of this particularly complex project.

Advance notice periods and access to data are two of the most crucial issues for local authorities. To solve the problems that have arisen, the copper network switchoff must be carried out in full cooperation with local officials, and mayors in particular. Arcep will be particularly vigilant to ensure this.

Marie-Christine Servant, Arcep Executive Board member

► The Post n° 73 - September / October 2024

Picture this: you go, as you do every day, to your local newsagent to buy your favourite newspaper. This morning, he says to you: “I’m going to make your life easier. I’ve read Le Monde cover to cover. In fact, I read every single newspaper overnight, and even devoured every bit of international news. And I’m going to sum it all up for you in two minutes.” Then the newsagent proceeds to cobble together a summary of the news that he thinks you’ll be interested in. How has he chosen that information from the plethora he just read? Is he capable of recognising fake news? What are his ideological biases? And, last but not least, how much can you trust his summary? This is not science fiction: this is exactly what generative AI does by standing between us and all of the content it has “digested”.

In addition to issues of copyright and the fight against dis- and misinformation, which are of course vital to address, by becoming the new intermediaries generative AI tools could become our new “gateway” to the internet and to the online services we use. According to some, they could even replace traditional search engines.

Standing up for our right to control our settings

By having direct control over the access to knowledge and ability to share it that is the very heart of the internet model, generative AI thus threatens our freedom of choice in accessing online content and our freedom of expression. This is a fundamental challenge to the principle of an open internet: every ISP is prohibited from discriminating against users’ access to the content being relayed over their network.

In France, Arcep is responsible for ensuring that this principle of an open internet is upheld. Which is why it is speaking out today about the impact that generative AI is having on these issues, in its response to the European Commission’s public consultation.

What can we do?

Let’s begin by taking the courses of action set out in the report from the AI Task Force that was commissioned by the Government in 2023: let us train and educate every citizen and business in these new tools, let us support the development of open AI tools that can be audited for bias by third parties, let us demand more transparency on the data used to train them and on the results of the audits, without which they can never be considered trustworthy. Let us also have a clear-eyed view of the partnerships that are currently being forged. And let’s not be naïve: these same Big Tech companies that already have such a hold over our digital lives will have the same ability to determine how information circulates in future. Let’s be certain that the same causes will produce the same effects.

If we want to take advantage of AI’s tremendous potential in areas such as health, understanding climate change, education, economics and society in general, let us ensure that the internet remains an open space of freedom and innovation. Let us demand our “right to control our own settings” so that everyone has control over the AI they use, as suggested by France’s National Consultative Commission on Human Rights. This is how we take (back) control in the name of a desirable digital future, while keeping our ability to buy Le Monde, or any other newspaper, every day and to shoot the breeze with our favourite newsagent.

To find out more:

• Arcep’s 2024 report on the State of the internet in France
• Watch the roundtable hosted by Arcep “Generative AI: the new gateway for accessing online content”

Laure de La Raudière, Chair of Arcep

This column was published on 2 July 2024 on the “Le Monde” website.

► The Post n° 72 - July 2024

“Ecodesign is in everyone’s best interest”

The web is not only virtual. It has a tangible impact on our planet. Digital technology currently accounts for 3% to 4% of greenhouse gasses worldwide and, if no concrete action is taken, this figure is bound to increase incrementally in the coming years. Arcep and Arcom’s formalisation of the General policy framework for the ecodesign of digital services (RGESN), and its inclusion in the REEN Act, marked a decisive turning point by enshrining consideration of the environmental impact of websites and digital apps into French regulation.

The “RGESN” took root in the work carried out by some 100 volunteers who formed a working group at the Institute for Sustainable IT (INR) in 2020. Our goal was to create an ecodesign tool for digital services. This colossal undertaking gave birth to “GR491”, the world’s only knowledge database that now contains 61 recommendations and 516 criteria. This work provided the foundations for the General policy framework for the ecodesign of digital services that began to be laid by Dinum (France’s Inter-ministerial Directorate in charge of the State’s digital transformation) in 2021. GR491 was also a key source of inspiration for the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) when drafting Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSG), thereby establishing international ecodesign standards for the web.

Thanks to GR491 and the fact of writing an ecodesign policy framework into law, France has become a global pioneer and standard bearer in this area. We are at the start of an unprecedented movement that does not yet exist in any country. But a great deal of work still needs to be done to ensure that the policy framework keeps pace with these ever-changing businesses.

The actual application of the policy framework, including through obligations akin to those of France’s General Accessibility Framework for Administrations (RGAA), will be crucial to guaranteeing that these best practices are widely disseminated and adopted across the ecosystem.

This is in everyone’s best interest. Those of us working in tech can no longer ignore its impacts on the environment. This is the only way that we can guarantee a future where digital technology makes a positive contribution to society and to the environment. At the INR, we will continue to work together on promoting sustainable practices, and we invite anyone interested in this issue to visit our website, and to come join us.

By Mathieu Delemme, Director of “Eco-design for sustainable IT” at the Institute for Sustainable IT/Institut du Numérique Responsable (INR) and President of Ctrl-a

► The Post n° 71 - May 2024

“Having robust data on ICT’s environmental footprint is the number one requirement to avoid inefficient behaviours and greenwashing”

In the 2010s, digital technology was perceived almost exclusively as a possible solution to some of the major environmental challenges the world was facing.

Awareness of information and communication technologies’ (ICT) own environmental footprint – including their greenhouse gas emissions, power consumption, the ecotoxicity of their waste, and the use of the rare and strategic resources they require – only began to take hold a few years ago. We have gone from contemplating “IT for green” to the far more challenging “green for IT”.

Understanding these embedded phenomena is no easy task, especially given the lack of reliable data on the matter. To avoid falling into the trap of simplistic reasoning, which can lead to ineffectual behaviours and even greenwashing, the first imperative is to have a set of robust data, which create the ability to measure the impacts of the different building blocks (devices, networks, data centres…) during ICT’s entire life cycle, and their evolution over time.

This is the direction that Arcep’s work has taken since 2019, notably in concert with ADEME (National Agency for the Ecological Transition). Its publications are expanded every year with new data, providing an increasingly fine-tuned view of ICT’s impact on the environment in France. They will also help deepen understanding of the effects of paradigm shifts, such as the recent surge of generative AI.

These data are meant to be shared with ICT industry stakeholders, public authorities and users to help deepen everyone’s understanding, and enable them to take action at their own level. Arcep also disseminates the findings of its work more broadly, at the European level and worldwide, aware that these challenges are inherently global by nature and require international responses. This approach has been commended by multiple international institutions, including ITU and the World Bank.

One thing is certain: we must not wait to have a complete set of data to take action, as we will pay a heavy environmental price for that inaction. Arcep’s work – on digital sustainability and the policy framework for eco-design (which will be published in the coming weeks) – among others, also gives every stakeholder the ability to identify ways to begin to take action immediately.

Xavier Merlin, Arcep Executive Board member

► The Post n° 70 - April 2024

“We need give (new) meaning to open data policies…”

...and to data in general. France’s data ecosystem has evolved a great deal over the past few years. Beyond the small circle of pioneer experts in the field (OpenDataFrance celebrated its 10^th anniversary in 2023), the key issue is no longer openness for the sake of transparency, but which data and what for? And, as a result, how to facilitate and improve local authorities’ ability to harness and utilise data.

The situation has progressed over the years (albeit to varying degrees), but the Digital Republic Act (Loi pour une République numérique) merely imposed an obligation, which local authorities viewed as yet another constraint, without focusing on the benefits of data and how they can be put to use.

The issue is not a technical one, but rather policy related. And to give it meaning, the spotlight needs to be on exemplary use cases, and on showcasing positive approaches (such as the Data Impact programme). I, and other stakeholders, are also calling for the implementation of proper governance that would involve both the Government and local authorities, as much at the national as the local level. Current blockages stem from years of having no clear and shared governance, a conclusion shared by multiple reports, albeit without proffering any recommendations to for remedies. It is high time to put an end to piecemeal initiatives, cobbled together by brave local authorities having to go it alone. Instead, we need to promote the development of a data-driven culture and an overarching drive to harness them, getting all elected officials and government agents onboard.

Looking beyond open data, the time has come to focus on collaborative data processing and sharing, and particularly better collaboration between the public and private sectors and between local and national players. Scaling up, adopting and disseminating standards are all crucial steps forward, and the impetus needs to come from the top, to set the tone for data producers, to then take action in a decentralised fashion. Data is a formidable tool for public policy, decision making, improving our services, for tackling issues, be they environmental, demographic, financial… we need to switch gears, and move into action.

OpenDataFrance is working on all fronts within its purview, all of which are changing and will continue to evolve. In late 2023, we announced the launch of a consultation with our members and partners to think about the association’s role. We are now launching a broader consultation that is open to everyone, to ponder the issues together and come up with the best way to continue to work effectively in the public interest. I urge each of the entities affected by this issue to join this collaborative call to action.

Constance Nebbula, President of the OpenDataFrance association

► The Post n° 69 - February / March 2024

“2024 heralds the start of a new era for digital tech”

2023 was a very busy year: Decisions on the 7^th round of fixed broadband and superfast broadband market analysis laid out what is undoubtedly the most ambitious framework in Europe for a copper network switchoff, the launch of new workstreams devoted to regulating press distribution, and contributing to the work that BEREC is doing during a particularly heady time in Europe, with the implementation of the Digital Markets Act, the entry into force of the Data Governance Act and the adoption of the Data Act.

The Court of Auditors applauded this rigorous action in its audit report: “Arcep is an authority that is recognised for its level of expertise and its results”. It supports our regulatory methods, based on an ongoing dialogue with all of the stakeholders (regulated market players, local authorities, associations…) and recognises Arcep teams’ work in service to the common good.

All of these workstreams herald the start of a new era in 2024. It is expected to be a year that bears fruit: improving the quality of fixed networks as a result of operators’ commitments to the action plan presented in 2022 to the Minister and to me. It will also, we hope, be a year of collective awareness of ICT’s impact on the environment. With the forward-looking ADEME-Arcep joint study (which has become a point of reference), its annual “Achieving digital sustainability” inquiry and the hosting of the “Satellites and the Environment” event, Arcep has positioned itself as both neutral expert and sounder of the alarm on this issue. The start of a new era too as the new European regulations – the DSA, DMA, the Data Act, DGA and the AI Act – are ushering in the switchover from self-regulating ICT to regulated ICT. Arcep will be a valiant guiding force in this time of change: new responsibilities are expected, including the regulation of cloud services and data intermediation service providers.

All of these changes have driven us to engage in widespread reflection, and to draft a new strategic review for the Authority. An exercise that is central to Arcep’s DNA of having regulation be of its time, in sync with the needs and expectations of our fellow citizens, and developing a digital universe that’s good for everyone: please don’t hesitate to share your ideas with us.

And here’s wishing you a very Happy New Year!

Laure de La Raudière, Arcep Chair 

► The Post n° 68 - January 2024

“Can we achieve the Green transition without digital technology?”

Digital tools and services are a ubiquitous part of our daily lives. The sector has a tremendous and growing impact on the environment (frequent replacement of computers and mobile phones, development of technologies such as AI, virtualisation, data processing and storage…). One conclusion emerges from this concerning state of affairs: digital technology is not sustainable at the current pace, and its development jeopardises the Green transition. Its greenhouse gas emissions, for instance, could increase by close to 50% between now and 2030, according to the study on the digital environmental footprint in France, produced by ADEME and Arcep.

Our societies have committed to the Green transition to varying degrees. The measures and commitments made by nations, organisations and businesses are based largely on the work of scientific experts, such as the IPCC reports providing estimates on climate change, and assessments of predictive scenarios. But is all of this scientific knowledge not widely available thanks to digital technology?

Digital to help decarbonise

Digital tech is thus part of the problem and part of the solution to the climate crisis. By ridding ourselves of caricatural postures, research and innovation in computer science can provide answers to this complex equation. It was to this end that Inria recently launched its Digital and Environment programme, whose purpose is to support the Institute’s actions and major projects devoted to the environmental challenges created and solved by digital technology.

Certain human activities such as farming, mobility and manufacturing are vital, and need to be transformed to reduce their impact on the environment. Digital must play a pivotal role in achieving this, making use of measurement, simulation, analysis, data and decision-making tools.

Protecting the environment also means all of us making simple gestures, changing our habits, especially when it comes to our use of digital technology. And when faced with dictates viewed as contradictory, digital tools often provide the ability to quantify the impact of our choices, and so help us make informed decisions.

The sustainable design of digital services and digital sobriety are necessities that give rise to a host of scientific questions. Questions that require exploring the development of a low-tech approach (i.e. of sustainable and streamlined digital tech) incorporating human and social sciences (economics, sociology, usage).

To achieve this shift, it is important that scientists and researchers be able to alter their activities so that their personal aspirations and professional contributions are not at odds. At Inria, the purpose of the Digital and Environment programme is to nurture the Institute’s ability to meet environmental imperatives. We need to sustain and amplify the current dynamic – at the national and the European level – to make this research into digital a key driving force behind decarbonisation.

By Jacques Sainte-Marie, Director of the Inria Digital and Environment programme

► The Post n° 67 - December 2023

"Satellites and the environment: when the promises of mega-constellations collide with the limits of space"

Imagine this: It’s 2057… humanity is celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the first satellite launched into orbit. The sector’s players were able to work together to achieve carbon neutrality in 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. We have gained control over satellites’ impact on the environment, whether space debris, radio interference, light pollution, energy consumption or the depletion of natural resources. How did they do it?

It is with a view to forging a path towards this ideal trajectory that we are pleased to have our three institutions, ADEME, Arcep and CNES, come together to host the “Satellites and the environment: when the promises of mega-constellations collide with the limits of space”, event on 20 November.

There are no longer any doubts about the benefits of telecommunication satellites, providing as they do internet and mobile connectivity in hard to reach areas. And recent superfast internet access plans are proving very popular. But the proliferation of mega-constellations is a game changer. We could see the some 8,000 satellites already orbiting above us today climb to 100,000 by 2030, according to the UN!

This figure alone forces us once again to raise the question of their impact on the environment, both on Earth and in space. And to address the many surrounding issues: from the satellites’ launch to their end of life, what impacts are we talking about and can we measure them? Should we question our needs, limit the number of satellites or prioritise their use? What international cooperation framework should be set up so that space and digital sector stakeholders commit fully to achieving international environmental and climate change goals? What rules can be set to reconcile the development of space activities, their sustainability and reducing their environmental footprint?

These are all issues that will affect our future and need to be tackled by public debates, and which our organisations are committed to furthering, while keeping in mind the space industry’s tremendous contribution to all public policies (digital divide, climate change, saving energy…)

By Laure de La Raudière, Chair of Arcep
Sylvain Waserman, Chair of ADEME
and Philippe Baptiste, Chair of CNES

► The Post n° 66 - October 2023

The ongoing dialogue that Arcep works to sustain with local authorities is unfailingly informative, and a valuable source of input that guides our actions as regulator.

Among the recurring topics raised by local officials are the quality of fibre connections and the deterioration of fibre networks. Having an internet or phone service outage can be catastrophic for the personal and professional daily lives of our fellow citizens, and for our businesses. And elected officials are often asked to intervene on this issue. When pressed by the Government, elected officials and Arcep, in September 2022 operators delivered a set of commitments to improve their business practices, and rehabilitate certain networks. These actions are currently being deployed, but work in this area needs to continue, be strengthened and the pace of improvement accelerated, to achieve concrete results that are clear to everyone.

At the same time, in July Arcep published the first fibre network QoS indicators. This scorecard will be updated on a quarterly basis, and fleshed out with new indicators, to be able to provide as accurate and detailed an account of the status of fibre networks in France as possible. It also creates the ability to check whether the sector’s action plans are bearing fruit.

This demand for high quality networks is all the more pressing as we are entering into a new phase, with the shutdown of the first sizeable batches of legacy copper network lines announced by Orange, and fibre rollouts moving ahead in the country’s most challenging terrains. Arcep will be especially vigilant in ensuring that these rollouts are complete before the copper network is shut down. This is also the backdrop against which Arcep recently published its recommendation on the completion of all connections, providing a reminder of the infrastructure operator’s responsibilities in the installation of long and complex connections.

Ensuring full, nationwide, effective and good quality fixed and mobile connectivity is a top priority for regulation: Arcep is devoted to achieving this through the decisions it makes, monitoring operators’ compliance with their obligations and commitments, and by engaging penalty procedures when the situation warrants.

Laure de La Raudière, Arcep Chair 

► The Post n° 65 - September 2023

For engineers and engineers involved in 21st century transitions

Digital sciences and technologies play a central role in our daily existence, and create both an unprecedented need for engineers and a certain mistrust of science’s ability to continue to deliver real progress for humanity.

Scientific education has a major role to play within this environment, in restoring the fundamentals of the scientific method in students, namely observation, creativity, rigour and critical thinking. An engineer must not present themselves to the world as a repository of truth, but rather as someone who, equipped with a scientific background, agrees to act with humility.

Today, it is equally urgent to attract talents who can help achieve the necessary transitions, be they energy-related, industrial or digital. The Green transition is in fact a central part of the 2nd REFLEXIONS symposium hosted by Institut Polytechnique in Paris in June, in which Arcep participated. Educational stakeholders, including the École Polytechnique, are working from middle school on up to render engineering professions more concrete, more accessible and more attractive, particularly to young women.

Lastly, the cross-cutting nature of the environmental crisis requires engineers to embrace a more global view of the issues, looking beyond their area of specialisation. For more than two centuries, the École Polytechnique has promoted excellence in multi-disciplinary teaching, combining the sciences with learning the humanities and the transmission of shared issues and challenges. Faithful to this humanist tradition, the School is educating the scholars of the 21^st century, readying them to contribute to a sustainable society for everyone.

Laura Chaubard, Engineer-General of Armament and Director-General of the École Polytechnique

► The Post n° 64 - July 2023

Pace of the copper network shutdown is accelerating, under Arcep’s watchful eye

As much for reasons of technical performance, efficiency and their environmental footprint, new fibre optic networks will steadily come to replace the legacy copper network.

As guarantor of this switchover being performed by Orange, Arcep made the copper network’s switchoff conditional on the prior deployment of fibre.

At the end of 2022, close to 80% of premises in Metropolitan France were eligible to subscribe to fibre services – a figure that runs as high as 91% in the Hauts-de-France, a region where I have long been rooted and involved.

It was in this well-equipped environment that Orange conducted part of its second copper switchoff trial. Launched on 31 July 2021, this meant shutting down the network technically on 31 March 2023 for close to 11,000 premises spread out over six municipalities, including Provin (in the Nord).

On 17 May of this year, Arcep Chair, Laure de La Raudière, and I travelled to Provin to take stock of this trial with local officials and operators. Their feedback was positive: fibre was deployed across the board without delay, and the copper switchoff carried out.

The trial nevertheless revealed a crucial requirement: to ensure clear and bespoke communication for citizens on the consequences of switching from copper to fibre. It was to this end that Arcep published a page on its website designed to answer concrete questions about the switchoff raised by individuals and businesses.

Arcep will continue to ensure operators’ involvement in this exercise. Especially as the copper switchoff is set to accelerate with a new batch of 162 municipalities (home to close to 210,000 premises) whose copper access is expected to be switched off in January 2025, and the upcoming announcement of an even larger batch, involving close to 900,000 premises whose copper access is due to be switched off in late 2026.

Joëlle Cottenye, Arcep Executive Board member

► The Post n° 63 - June 2023

Independent Experts Committees to bring together digital stakeholders and deliver technical recommendations

To inform Arcep’s investigations into the technical issues surrounding fibre (FttH) and mobile networks, as well as the digital environmental footprint, the Authority armed itself with three independent experts committees whose members include different telecoms and digital industry stakeholders. There is a “Fibre” committee, a “Mobile” committee and an “Assessment” committee. The last one was created in 2020, is co-managed with ADEME and focuses on how to measure digital’s impact on the environment.

Operators, device manufacturers, data centre managers, content providers, think tanks, union representatives and researchers are thus able to share their views and technical expertise, and, in the case of the Fibre committee, work with representatives of territorial authorities.

The committees meet once a month, and help inform the work done by the Arcep Executive Board to which they present their work every year. They also enable members representing the sector to reach a consensus on shared issues, through discussions that are consistently backed by technical analysis. Arcep acts as secretary for these committees and takes part in the debates, which leads to a better mutual understanding between the players and the emergence of mutually desired or acceptable solutions.

The committees’ latest workstreams (which may be of public interest and so posted online by Arcep) include 5G network synchronisation by operators; technical recommendations for efficient FttH network sharing; a comparison of 4G vs. 5G network energy consumption; the environmental impact of switching off 2G and 3G networks (upcoming publication) and an analysis of the methodologies used to measure the digital environmental footprint to harmonise and promote better assessment practices.

I have been passionate from the start about the deeply engaging dialogue with this community that brings together all of the digital sector’s key players.

Catherine Mancini, Chair of the Arcep Experts Committee, Nokia

► The Post n° 62 - April 2023

Digital impact study: a major step for regulation

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the consumption of raw materials, water, waste production… achieving digital sobriety is a momentous challenge. Arcep’s commitment to the issue began in earnest in 2019 and it has since become a new regulatory chapter. The Authority is collecting more and more essential data for life cycle analyses* and works with its partners on achieving digital sobriety. The cultural shift and progress made since then are impressive.

An important milestone: in March 2023, ADEME and Arcep delivered the third and final volume of their forward-looking study on the digital environmental footprint in France, in 2030 and 2050. The study reveals that, if no action is taken to contain ICT’s growing impact on the environment, their digital carbon footprint could triple by 2050. Even though digital is vital to helping improve sobriety in other areas, such an increase seems incompatible with the 2050 objectives of the Paris Agreement.

So how can this footprint be reduced ? The report opens up crucial avenues for the development of more carbon and resource-efficient digital consumption. If we hope to succeed, everyone needs to commit to doing so immediately! Everyone, from individuals to digital tech companies and network and data centre operators.

* Life cycle analysis is a standardised method used to quantify all of the environmental impacts of products or services in the same fashion, and this throughout their life (from their production to their end of life, by way of their utilisation).

Serge Abiteboul, Arcep Executive Board member

► The Post n° 61 - March 2023

Users owning a growing number of devices, network quality, televisions’ lifespan: main findings of the 2022 Digital Market Barometer

Digital technology is a pervasive part of our daily lives, at work and play, in our relationships with others and ourselves. It is multichannel and multipurpose. All of which are apparent in the 2022 edition of the Digital Market Barometer, the annual survey devoted to digital device ownership and how user habits are changing in France. Digital applications are accessed through a variety of devices: smartphones, computers, connected objects. Forty percent of respondents own a connected object, and take-up rates have been swift: the rate achieved by smart speakers in three years took computers eight years to reach.

Users are very demanding when it comes to the quality of their network, given how vital it has become, and this is especially true of young users. Worth noting here is that fibre networks appear to keep their QoS promises, as fibre users' satisfaction levels are higher than copper users’, especially in rural areas where fibre is being deployed. These findings require the regulator to remain agile, to keep pace with these changing habits and include the new channels and devices used to access those applications.

Lastly, we learned that close to half of all users replace their televisions within less than four years. Which means there is still considerable room for improvement in the area of repairability and developing the device refurbishment chain, as devices account for more than two thirds of the digital environmental footprint.

Maya Bacache, Arcep Executive Board member

► The Post n° 60 - February 2023

“Pace of fibre deployments slowing: a situation to be monitored in view of the upcoming copper switch-off”

As Orange has committed to switching off its copper network by 2030, the slowing pace of fibre rollouts over the past several months – particularly in very high-density areas and parts of the country where the Government has issued a call for investment letters of intent ("zones AMII") – is a source of concern for the High Commission for Digital and Postal Affairs.

Our members hold the belief that the copper network cannot be switched off unless fibre has been deployed virtually everywhere across France, and every user has access to an alternative solution.

The CSNP is mindful not only of the pace of fibre deployments, but also the quality of the installation and operation of fibre optical networks.

We urge infrastructure operators and commercial operators to be more rigorous, to ensure that the technological achievement of fibre deployment not be tarnished by defective work and connection issues as has too often been the case. We are also committed to ensuring that the quality of the copper network be maintained right up to the switch-off.

We are sending this message out to operators and public authorities, particularly though the National committee on fixed networks led by the Ministry of Economic and Financial Affairs, by acting as a conduit for users’ and elected officials’ fears and concerns.

Mireille Clapot, Chair of the High Commission for Digital and Postal Affairs

► The Post n° 59 - January 2023

Bringing dialogue to the field

My term of office at Arcep is coming to an end, and I should really like to talk about one essential aspect of regulation: the dialogue with stakeholders in the field. Several times a year, I participated in the different regional digital strategy committees. During these meetings with territorial representatives, Arcep takes stock of network deployment and operators’ compliance with their obligations: with respect to deploying fibre in rural and medium-density areas, as well as 4G and 5G mobile networks.

But it is especially the discussions that follow, with elected officials and operators, that make these forums especially valuable: they give the regulator the ability to take the pulse of the progress made and difficulties encountered, up close with the teams and in the vicinity of the work that is taking place. The information traded provides all of the players the opportunity to anticipate how regulatory requirements will affect their project management. This concrete feedback enables Arcep to adapt its own requirements to local authorities’ priorities and concerns.

This ongoing collaboration with elected officials and operators will be central to the massive undertaking of switching off the legacy copper network, being overseeing by Orange: ensuring that excellent quality fibre networks will take its place, that governance rules will include close collaboration with elected officials, while guaranteeing healthy competition for operators that benefits consumers.

Monique Liebert-Champagne, Arcep Executive Board member

► The Post n° 58 November-December 2022

Press Distribution Modernisation Act, three years on

Freedom of distribution for the written press has been enshrined in French Law since 1947. This exception has enabled the development of France’s print media market, which is one of the most dynamic in the world, particularly when it comes to magazines.

On 18 October 2019, a new version of this Law reaffirmed the founding principles while also updating them. In particular, it defines print media products and gives power back to newsagents, while protecting publishers’ freedom to disseminate and pluralism.

Since then, newsagents’ right and freedom to receive a selection of press titles tailored to their shelf space and their clientele’s expectations have finally been enshrined in law. As we had hoped, a commercial dialogue is taking shape between the distributor and the newsagent based on a list of the shop’s best-selling titles. The selection of publications and a regulation of the quantities supplied will thus help our profession regain the commercial soundness it deserves.

We lost two years of progress in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic and the shockwaves created by the Presstalis bankruptcy. So it was not until 2022 that this Law began to be steadily implemented: trials have been conducted since the summer and expanded in the autumn, to stabilise processes and make the necessary adjustments.

The basics are in place: reforms are underway, and we are counting on our regulator to remain committed to ensuring that the sector’s stakeholders implement the Law and, especially, continue to enforce it over time.

Daniel Panetto, President of Culture Presse (Union of leisure and press retailer)

► The Post n° 57 - October 2022

Connected Territories Conference: spotlight on network quality

This special edition of the Post is being published to coincide with Arcep’s annual Connected Territories Conference. This forum devoted to regional digital development is an important event for Arcep. It provides an opportunity to listen to everyone’s – elected officials, local authority representatives and operators – expectations and their questions about the major issue of delivering fixed and mobile internet access to every person across the whole of France. It also gives Arcep a chance to share the latest regulatory developments geared to achieving this objective.

Thanks to a concerted effort, regional digital coverage in France continues to progress. The New Deal for Mobile's targeted coverage scheme created the ability to deploy 1,575 new cell sites since July 2018 in those areas with the poorest coverage up to now, and around 75% of premises in the country are now eligible to subscribe to a fibre access service. This massive push to upgrade infrastructures must continue, improving the quality of connections and of fibre access operations, notably on certain especially accident-prone networks. In addition to rollout figures, Arcep will continue to monitor network quality of service indicators and to collect reports from end users, to help guide its regulatory actions. To this end, Arcep’s field visits and ongoing dialogue with elected officials and local authorities are particularly useful.

Laure de La Raudière, Arcep Chair

► The Post n° 56 - September 2022

European regulators reveal their ambitions for the digital sector’s Green Transition

It is now a foregone conclusion in France that, in addition to the benefits it bestows on other sectors of the economy by enabling them to reduce their environmental footprint, the digital sector must also reduce its own footprint, so that France can meet the commitments made under the Paris Agreement. Arcep has been given a major role in tackling this issue, alongside other institutions such as ADEME.

European telecom regulators’ collective involvement, through BEREC, has taken place in stages. Arcep and other regulators, such as the Finnish and Irish NRAs, worked patiently to persuade their counterparts of how crucial it was to take action on this issue, and this beyond digital’s contribution to the European Green Deal. And the groundwork is steadily being laid: the first stage was the adoption of digital sustainability as one of the main components of BEREC’s multiannual strategy (2021-2025). Followed by the creation of a permanent “Sustainability” working group co-chaired by Arcep, the only European regulator at the time with powers in this area.

The third stage of lift-off has just been activated: the first BEREC report on digital sustainability . After having consulted with and listened to stakeholders from well outside the usual purview, reaching beyond the conclusions stage, it delivers the first concrete ambitions for reducing the digital sector’s environmental footprint. Its recommendations are naturally in sync with the ones that Arcep sketched out during its national “Achieving digital sustainability” workshops. But it is its own little revolution, as it seeks to use regulatory tools to tackle environmental issues, for instance by encouraging operators to share certain parts of the network, and urging coordinated use of civil engineering and spectrum…

Some regulators complained about not having regulatory or enforcement tools at their disposal. But the discussions, and the workshops hosted by BEREC, along with the publication of this report persuaded every member of BEREC, here and abroad, that the desire for progress is what counts: desire and commitment precede the granting of newfound powers. And can even be the triggers.

Emmanuel Gabla, Member of the Arcep Executive Board

► The Post n° 55 - June 2022

The Green Transition and the economy's digitalisation: new challenges, new consumer protection and competition regulation tools

Supervisory and regulatory authorities are having to grapple with the accelerated pace of economic change and the new challenges ushed in by the digital economy. Which is why the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) reorients the focus of its national survey programme on a regular basis. In 2022, a key focus is supporting the Green Transition (notably by targeting greenwashing and use of the term “refurbished”), along with regulation of digital economy stakeholders (electronic communication operators, online platforms and marketplaces).

To satisfy the need for adaptability and reactivity, in late 2021 DGCCRF adopted, for the first time, a new Consumer Code tool which creates the ability to de-list a platform from search engines and app stores, and even to block access to it. A stipulation was also added recently to the French Commercial Code that failures to comply with “Platform to business” regulations and anti-competitive practices could result in an injunction, and be subject to penalties, making it a powerful tool for putting an end to illicit practices.

At the European level, DGCCRF co-led the Digital Markets Act negotiations with the Directorate-General for Enterprise (DGE), newly concluded under the French presidency. This regulation must provide the ability to respond to the regulatory challenges posed by gatekeeper platforms, in real time.

Supervisory authorities must work closely together on these cross-cutting issues. DGCCRF knows that it can count on Arcep’s expertise on both environmental and digital matters.

Virginie Beaumeunier, Director-General of DGCCRF

► The Post n° 54 - April / May 2022

Facilitating businesses’ access to 5G

5G is a network innovation that holds a promise of real growth as it produces positive externalities in every economic sector. It also renders machine to machine communication efficient and helps directly improve capital productivity. The ability to keep that promise nevertheless depends on how 5G is appropriated, its ability to weave its way into the industrial, organisation and social fabric, and how it is used by businesses, administrations, universities and stakeholders across all vertical sectors.

Arcep has an important role to play in this appropriation. Frequencies can be assigned either to telecoms operators, who then design solutions for businesses, or directly to industry players that use them for their operations. Each assignment model has its own set of pros and cons, and striking the right balance depends on the types of company, their size, sector, uses, etc. Which is why a prior investigation was conducted into awarding this resource and stakeholders’ requirements (consultation with stakeholders and production of an Arcep report back in 2017) and into the best way to allocate these frequencies.

First, when assigning so-called “core” 5G frequencies, Arcep imposed a number of obligations on operators, including the obligation to activate the most innovative feature of 5G, namely slicing, by 2023 at the latest. Telecom operators also committed to granting reasonable requests from economic stakeholders, by providing them with bespoke solutions or by granting them direct local access to frequencies.

Second, it has supported private sector players’ request to have their own mobile network by issuing calls for proposals from industry stakeholders for 5G project trials, staring in 2017. After which it opened several frequency trial platforms. Launched in 2019, the trial platform for the 2.6 GHz band has already led to the deployment of private networks in a variety of sectors. Arcep assists these professional mobile networks in making a gradual transition to 5G in this band. A digital portal launched on 15 March 2022 also gives these players the ability to view available frequencies on a map, and to track the processing of their spectrum request.

In 2019, Arcep also created a trial platform for the 26 GHz band and designed a spectrum award model that is very open to economic stakeholders. Today, Arcep is completing this mechanism and, in concert with the Government, opened a new trial platform for the 3.8-4.2 GHz band on 15 March 2022.

But merely awarding spectrum is not enough. It is up to economic stakeholders to disseminate an innovation. It depends on the skills, training and selection of the engineers that design and deploy it. It also depends on certain enterprises not confiscating these innovations, and on the existence of free and fair competition that allows it to be appropriated by the entire industrial fabric. From a more general perspective, it depends on public policies on training and R&D, as well as industrial and competition policies.

Maya Bacache, member of the Arcep Executive Board

► The Post n° 53 - March 2022

Digital and the environment: a collective call to action

If digital services’ positive contributions no longer need to be proven, their impact on the environment is still very much a topic of discussion. As the proliferation of – often contradictory — studies and reports has been unable to settle the debate between those who see digital as a climate saviour and those who see it as a gravedigger, we need to look beyond these claims and analyse the many ambiguities of these technologies.

The Law on Reducing the digital carbon footprint, which I had the honour of bringing before the Senate, provides an initial regulatory framework for this process, and its extension increased Arcep’s powers in the area of environmental regulation. The study that Arcep carried out with ADEME on assessing digital’s environmental impact instils a “discourse on method” that is vital to establishing common benchmarks.

It is now up to us to join forces in working to curtail the environmental impact of digital technology, as much to combat the harmful effects of devices, networks, and certain practices, as to showcase the virtuous uses that make it a powerful lever for actions.

Patrick Chaize, Senator for the Ain, Vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, Chair of Avicca

► The Post n° 52 - February 2022

Arcep celebrates its 25th anniversary

What a long way we’ve come since the creation of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ART) on 5 January 1997! Created to regulate the opening of France’s telecoms sector up to competition, its responsibilities have evolved over time to include the regulation of certain postal activities in 2005, and press distribution in 2019.

An independent authority, Arcep ensures that private actors’ growth and interests are compatible with general interest objectives, be it fair and effective competition, regional development, pluralism or the quality of the services provided, for the benefit of end users. It is rooted in pro-investment and pro-innovation regulation.

In the telecommunications sector, it champions the goal of every person in France having access to superfast internet access, anywhere in the country, at an affordable price – in a real and lasting fashion. Thanks to the commitment of private and public sector players, and to the regulatory framework set by Arcep, people in France today have among the least expensive mobile plans in the world, and France is the European leader in optical fibre deployment!

The Authority’s capacity to innovate is part of its DNA: it has been a driving force behind discussions within BEREC, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, over regulating Big Tech, and welcomes the 27 European NRAs’ common position on the Digital Markets Act.

For the past 25 years, Arcep has been able to reinvent itself to fulfil its mandate and continually look to the future. Our shared ambition is to continue the task of regulating begun in 1997 and, drawing on this experience, to tackle new challenges, and crafting regulation that takes full consideration of users’ satisfaction and environmental issues.

• Arcep’s New Year’s wishes video

Laure de La Raudière, Chair of Arcep

► The Post n° 51 - January 2022

Accompanying changes in the postal market

Safeguarding the Universal Postal Service has been one of Arcep’s responsibilities and one of its main concerns for some time. A responsibility because Arcep is tasked with ensuring compliance with universal service quality objectives, with issuing opinions of La Poste pricing, in addition to helping protect its future through a framework of fair competition. But a source of concern, too, as the structural decrease in the volume of mail could threaten the presence of postal services in the regions.

If the volume of mail items has been shrinking steadily for 13 years, 2020 marked a real turning point, with a decrease of close to 20% – resulting in a close to 15% decline in revenue for the sector as a whole, despite the regular hikes in the price of stamps by La Poste. And even though the competitive parcel delivery business continues to grow, thanks to e-commerce, it is not enough to offset letter delivery losses.

In the draft budget for 2022, the Government has chosen to support the postal market through these changes by compensating a portion of mail delivery deficits through a state compensation fund, rather than the corporate compensation fund that has never worked. It is Arcep that will evaluate the net cost of the universal postal service.

Arcep has also set up a postal services observatory, whose findings for 2020 have just been published. Focused initially on authorised postal operators’ activities, it was expanded to include data on parcel operators, delivering a snapshot of the sector’s evolution through a set of key indicators (volumes, revenue, jobs, investment).

Monique Liebert-Champagne, Arcep Executive Board member

► The Post n° 50 - November / December 2021

Fratel rising to the innovation challenge

As a discipline whose end goal is to achieve a state of equilibrium in the sectors in question, regulation needs to reinvent itself constantly, to attune its instruments to the latest global issues. Today, this includes the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, e-commerce, 5G and possibly even 6G depending on the country, Fintech, especially in African countries, and network convergence.

We believe that Fratel is one of the best forums for tackling these issues, to share experiences in these areas and to address them as part of a collaborative process that takes the maturity of each market into account.

Beyond these aspects, safeguarding sacrosanct principles such as net neutrality provides the bedrock for promoting innovation in a world now dominated by digital platforms. In other words, with the advent of new players that position themselves as the providers of value-added services, more and more, electronic communications regulation is becoming simply digital market regulation. With the current ongoing convergence of networks, no regulator can operate in a vacuum, which is why the need to encourage co-regulation as an alternative mechanism to tackle new issues seems like the obvious way forward.

This regulation needs to be based on the idea of soft law, promoting compliance rather than repression.

On another level, notwithstanding the need to moderate platforms’ content, there must be no watering down of net neutrality as the principle that today undergirds the guaranteed right to information.

We should also remember that, regardless of the system in place in any given country, frequencies today constitute a powerful lever for promoting innovation, provided they are made available to new professions. This is also why, above and beyond the overriding policies proper to each region, FRATEL could emerge as a body that facilitates dialogue between stakeholders, including equipment suppliers, notably about different frequency bands, for instance during WRCs.

It is nevertheless also worth remembering that, while universal, these principles and issues are subject to scrutiny from various quarters, depending on the country and the regulators, taking each nation’s economic situation and standards into account. This is what gives regulation its charm: regardless of the model being used, its ultimate objective remains the same, namely, to achieve a state of balance.

All these conclusions converge upon the need to strengthen bodies like FRATEL that consistently tackle the issues surrounding electronic communications with brio, by hosting forums for dialogue with experts in the field, coupled with joint and accessible reports.

This is why, in my position of Chair of FRATEL for this term of office, a position that I am honoured and delighted to assume, I am calling for a consolidation of what has been achieved since the Federation’s creation, and for a commitment that continues to be fresh and new.

This call leads me to invite all FRATEL members to come out, en masse, to the organisation’s next meeting, which will be taking place in Dakar in November 2021.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the FRATEL members and experts for their commitment and active involvement throughout this term. Special thanks to France’s Regulatory Authority for Electronic communications, Postal affairs and Print media distribution (Arcep) for all of its coordination work, despite the Covid situation, to host online meetings so successfully.

Abdoul LY, Director-General of the Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Authority (ARTP) of Senegal, Chair of Fratel

► The Post n° 49 - October 2021

New stages, new formula

The New Deal for Mobile and the “Plan France très haut débit” fibre rollout scheme delivered the impetus to make tremendous strides in bringing high quality internet access to people in France, to work remotely, to access healthcare, to learn, get cultured and be entertained. But dissatisfaction remains amongst the poorly covered, the poorly connected and the digitally deprived. At a time when deployments are progressing at a steady pace, and major inroads being made into rural areas, Arcep’s The Post is changing, to give more room in its columns to territories, to their users and to environmental issues.

Since its inaugural issue in 2016, the “Field Notes” section of our monthly newsletter had delivered an account of Arcep’s trips to talk to local stakeholders and to take stock of the progress being made on networks locally. From now own, a local official will be invited to talk about a specific topic or innovation that can serve as an example to other local authorities.

With its “J’alerte l’Arcep” platform, the Authority gives every user – be they an individual, a business, local authority, developer or consumer – the ability to report issues they have encountered with their telecoms, internet, postal or press distribution network’s operation. The reports that have been logged will provide the fuel for a new section: “Dispatches from J’alerte l’Arcep” – delivering a monthly update on the issue of the moment, in a fully transparent fashion.

Finally, because everything is now viewed through the lens of environmental impact, a new “Achieving digital sustainability” section will be dedicated to the work that Arcep is doing in this area, as well as the ecosystem’s many initiatives. The goal: to help raise awareness and rally to action through information. And to make environmental protection a new regulatory chapter.

And now on to the “new Post”, and its first back to school/back to work issue!

Joëlle Cottenye, Arcep Executive Board member

► The Post n° 48 - september 2021

Striving for more connected and inclusive territories

Since its creation, the Banque des Territoires has been working unflaggingly to reduce regional divides. The digital divide is the first territorial divide: today, households, businesses and public services are either connected to a superfast network or they’re not, and this is intolerable. The Covid-19 crisis proved how important digital technology now is. Everybody in France must have access to resilient digital infrastructures, and enjoy powerful digital services.

As part of the Caisse des Dépôts recovery plan, and to achieve 100% connection for the population by 2025, the Banque des Territoires adopted a three-pronged response plan: physical network security, supplementing superfast mobile coverage in the overseas territories, and expanding fixed and mobile coverage in every territory, especially the most isolated ones. The plan is a response to those needs that have not been satisfied by public or private sector commitments, to accelerate the pace of regional digital development. 120 million euros will be invested in these projects, and 150 million euros in loans will help finance local public sector initiatives.

More recently, the Banque des Territoires joined a consortium that acquired a 50% stake in Orange Concessions which has connected more than 4.5 million households in France via public initiative networks. This strategic investment allows the Banque des Territoires to expand its striking power to help territories complete their digital transition, and particularly fibre deployments in rural areas.

A long-term investor, the Banque des Territoires, is striving to making every territory – be it rural, suburban, mountainous or coastal – more connected. We are fully committed to working alongside territories and our fellow citizens to reduce the digital divide and, in so doing, territorial divides as well.

Olivier Sichel, Managing Director, Caisse des Dépôts, Director of the Banque des Territoires

► The Post n°47 - June/July 2021

A new record year for telecoms investment, driven by fibre

14.3 billion euros: this is the total operator spending recorded by Arcep in its Observatory of electronic communications markets for 2020.

This total includes three main components:

- 2.8 billion euros spent on 5G frequencies. The most recent acquisitions had been of 700 MHz frequencies for 4G rollouts, in 2015;
- 3.2 billion euros invested in mobile;
- and 8.3 billion euros in fixed networks.

Operators’ investments in fixed access included 3.9 billion euros spent on fixed superfast local loops. Over the past six years, close to 14.3 billion euros have been invested in these installations. If we include public funding, 24.2 million sockets have thus been deployed. And demand is strong, with 10.4 million FttH subscriptions at the end of last year.

Investments in mobile networks have enabled virtually complete 4G deployment, the supply of increasingly dense nationwide coverage, and better quality of service.

The process of upgrading digital infrastructures in France is well underway, and expected to be completed over the next few years. Which is something that will benefit everyone.

François Lions, Arcep Board member

► The Post N° 46 - May 2021

Goodbye copper, hello fibre!

The small rural village of Lévis Saint Nom in the Chevreuse Valley, population 1,732, was fully passed for fibre back in 2016. It took only weeks for the highly anticipated new network to replace the legacy copper system.

By summer 2020, when Orange proposed running a pioneer trial on shutting down its copper network, there were still some one hundred subscribers connected to the old system. The village agreed take part in this ambitious project, on two conditions:

- the switchover must be neutral in terms of the cost and quality of service for residents;

- not a single vulnerable person would have their telephone line cut.

We kept in touch with the town’s residents about the project, to encourage and reassure them.

Any issues that arise need to be solved quickly: hence the copper lines that have been maintained as part of municipal contingency plans, hence the supply of remote assistance systems for our elderly citizens, notably when there is a power cut, hence the operation of alarm systems…

Other unexpected issues, requiring the involvement of the Community centre for social action: some residents could not remember whether or not they have a copper line. Others, who see the telephone as a public utility, expect their operator to handle the switchover completely, without requiring them to do a thing…

Status report as of 31 March 2021: 100% of the town’s residents are now connected to the upgraded and future optical fibre network, with the added bonus that the overhead lines have been removed, which is great news for the environment!

Anne Grignon, mayor of Lévis Saint Nom

On 10 March of this year, Laure de La Raudière travelled to Lévis Saint Nom to talk with local authorities, Orange and commercial operators about the process of switching customers over from copper to fibre. The incumbent carrier’s announcement that it would be shutting down its legacy copper system by 2030 is a massive project in which Arcep has a role of guarantor, as much with respect to the timetable, as protecting users’ interests and market competition.

► The Post n°45 - April 2021

A strategic authority

After 13 years as a Deputy, it is an honour for me to serve my country once again, this time as the Chair of Arcep.

Arcep is a strategic authority because it regulates services that people in France use in their everyday lives: fixed and mobile calling and internet access, mail and print media distribution, across the whole of France. Its decisions are thus vital to satisfying our fellow citizens’ legitimate expectations, in every part of the country, but also to creating the conditions that will enable regulated players to grow and innovate.

Strategic too because its actions are at the heart of major societal transformations, tied to the digitalisation of every aspect of our lives. Arcep will continue to contribute to the debates on these issues and challenges, as it is doing on digital technology’s environmental impact and regulating leading internet platforms (i.e. the digital gatekeepers) as part of the Digital Markets Act, in both France and at the European level. Together, with the members of the Executive Board and our teams, we have some exciting challenges ahead.

Laure de La Raudière, Arcep Chair

► Read the Post n° 44

Empowerment

As my term as Chairman of Arcep is coming to an end just days from now, I’ve posted a video to share some impressions of my six years at the head of this institution. If I had to sum up my guiding force during that time it would be: “empowerment”. To be an authority that authorises. So that the networks that are so vital to the life of our societies develop as a common good. 

My action has intersected with a personal belief: as the public sector grapples with a crisis of public trust, it needs to reinvent itself. By designing the government as a network, one that is capable of channelling the society’s forces to rise to the challenges we face today.

It has been an honour to serve my country for these past six years, and to enrich our fellow citizens’ opportunities to communicate. Thank you to all of the players, who are the beating heart of our country’s networks, to the authorities that supervise us and our public sector partners, to the Arcep Board, its General Directorate, and all of its teams.

I wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday season. 

Sébastien Soriano, Chairman of Arcep

► Read the Post n° 43

The challenges facing BEREC in 2021

Observing the effects of the European 2019 Electronic Communications Code will be a central part of BEREC’s work in 2021. Focused up until now on drafting guidelines for the Code’s implementation, our work will shift towards analysing market developments and technological change.

Another aspect of BEREC’s work will be ensuring that very high capacity networks are available everywhere in Europe. In keeping with the objectives set forth in the European Commission’s ”Gigabit Society” plan, whose targets include ensuring every household has access to speeds of 100 Mb/s in 2025, we will work to remove the obstacles to optical fibre and 5G network deployment.

Looking beyond the networks, BEREC will work to build cooperation between regulators on the topic of online platforms. It is a complex and multi-dimensional issue, which encompasses data protection as much as competition-related questions that we need to come at in a cross-cutting fashion, to be able to find a balanced way to tackle all of the existing issues.

BEREC will also address the growing topic of sustainable development, echoing the tenets of the European Commission’s Green New Deal. We will examine how new gen networks, fibre and 5G, can develop productivity gains that will lead to more sustainable solutions and help bolster the green transition.

Also on the agenda will be an analysis of the Covid-19 public health crisis, from a network standpoint. The crisis accelerated the pace of society’s digital transition and laid bare the need for reliable connectivity. We must draw lessons from this experience that enable us to increase the resilience of our societies.

Michel Van Bellinghen, President of the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (IBPT) and BEREC Chair in 2021

► Read the Post n° 42

Arcep has issued operators with a set of recommendations regarding 5G coverage maps. In so doing, the regulator ensures that consumers have high quality information enabling them to make informed choices.

But why is it important users have proper information about the market? First and foremost, to protect consumers. People only have complete freedom of choice as consumers when they are able to make informed decisions. If, in a competitive market, price is one effective source of information, this is no longer the case when there is information asymmetry between sellers and buyers. The aim therefore is to safeguard against consumers being misled.

The deployment of a new technology, namely 5G, carries an added challenge: economic development. The history of technological progress is replete with examples of magnificent ideas and inventions that never make the transition to innovation, that are never adopted by the market, either because consumers remain locked into an older technology, or because fears about the new technology and wariness sap demand, or perhaps because its utility has not been made clear. Transparency over a technology’s opportunities, risks, reality and constraints are vital to building trust in trade and to the market’s development.

Lastly, it is also important to protect non-consumers from the external effects of technologies that have an impact on every citizen. This is why Arcep has joined the debate on the environmental impact of digital technology.

In the information economy, the power lies with those who own and manipulate information. It is therefore the regulator’s job to ensure that this power stays in the right hands: i.e. consumers’.

Maya Bacache, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read the Post n° 41

Europe must arm itself with ambitious legislation for the economic regulation of digital platforms

At a time when Big Tech is making it increasingly challenging to ensure that digital markets operate fairly, and that users are able to access the online content and services of their own choosing, the Digital Services Act that is currently being drafted by the European Commission must endow Europe with ambitious legislation in this area for the first time.

Working in concert with several Member States, notably Germany, Italy and Poland, we requested that the European Union implement an ex ante regulatory instrument centred around the globe’s largest and most “influential” digital platforms. We also share the desire to introduce this regulation with the Netherlands. These rules must apply to a broad array of players, including operating systems, and their influential nature must be ascertained based on a range of criteria. To protect the markets from being captured and subject to predation by these platforms, it is imperative that the regulatory authority that will be designated by this legislation be armed with a broad set of tools, and be empowered to impose “bespoke” remedies.

Here, I would like to salute the instigating role that Arcep has played in public debates over regulating digital technology, and to extend my thanks for its active participation in the work being done by the “Régulations des Plateformes” task force which is in charge of establishing French authorities’ position on the European debate over the Digital Services Act.

Thomas Courbe, General Director of the Directorate-General for Enterprise (DGE)

© Photo A Salesse

► Read the Post n° 40

Working to achieve digital sustainability

Digital technology as a whole (devices, networks, software, datacentres, etc.) consumes a great deal of energy: generating 2% of all greenhouse gasses in France in 2019, and rising. Digital products are heavy power consumers, both in the production stage and when being used. And any progress towards greater sobriety is often cancelled out by the rebound effect. Arcep is of course very concerned about this issue, and published an initial brief on the matter in 2019.

Today, it is the deployment of 5G that is galvanising everyone’s attention. What impact will it have on the environment? One fascinating aspect of this new mobile technology is the breadth of applications it enables: teleworking, factories of the future, smart territories, telemedicine… At constant levels of consumption, 5G is more energy-efficient than its predecessors. Beyond the aforementioned uses, however, which could have a positive effect on those sectors’ environmental footprint, it could also be used massively for network gaming or watching films. These activities are not equally beneficial to society, of course. Could some of them – which may even be considered toxic when striving for digital sobriety – be moderated, or even avoided? Even more than deployment, the central question for 5G is how it will be used.

Looking beyond this very current topic, digital technology’s carbon footprint needs to be tackled as a whole: how to achieve the right interplay of proactive fibre and mobile network rollouts while taking regional needs into account? What role can sustainable design for applications play? What changes in user behaviour can we expect to see? etc. To this end, Arcep has launched an open and transparent platform devoted to “Achieving digital sustainability”. The aim is to weave environmental imperatives into concrete acts of digital regulation.

How can we achieve digital sustainability? Meaningful debate begins by eschewing attitudes of luddite obstinacy or slavish devotion to the gods of technology – to then work together on choosing the digital world we want to live in.

Serge Abiteboul, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read The Post n° 39

Internet and the green transition

I am delighted to be penning this brief editorial on a topic that is becoming a source of concern for more and more of our fellows, both in France and in many countries across the globe. They are starting to ask themselves the question about internet and, by extension, digital tech as a whole: is it an entirely positive transition accelerator or are there also negative aspects to this growing digitisation?

The sector symbolises the paradoxes underlying the green transition’s implementation. The recently passed law on the circular economy also marks an important milestone in society’s questioning of the greenhouse gas emissions of our internet-driven lives, at a time when the sector’s GHG emissions are skyrocketing.

The current lockdown has proven how vital it is to have network infrastructures that work during times of crisis as, today more than ever before, data traffic is a major issue in our society. As crucial as they are, these data that allow us to stay in touch, to continue to work, to stay informed, to educate our children and to be entertained, must not result in our activities creating an even greater carbon footprint.

So we need to continue to make our networks more energy efficient, as is the case with optical fibre rollouts, to inform users of the greenhouse gas emissions that their use of digital services generate, and to offers solutions for all of the stakeholders working to achieve “digital sobriety”.

If the current trajectory of technological developments is reducing the size of and energy consumed by devices, we are also seeing a transfer of the impact over to those stages for which data are less reliable: extraction of non-renewable resources, end of life processing for devices and internet usage.

Arnaud Leroy, President of France’s Environment and Energy Management Agency, Ademe

► Read The Post n°38

Networks as a common good

The unprecedented crisis that we are currently experiencing has provided a powerful reminder of the degree to which communication networks – internet, fixed and mobile telephone, mail, parcel, print media distribution – are a vital infrastructure in our country’s operation, and a fundamental part of the freedom, equality and fraternity that our country holds so dear.

The outstanding mobilisation of telecoms, postal and print media companies’ teams in the field, and of the whole fabric of the small and medium businesses, local stakeholders and associations that surround them, has made one reality possible: the networks are holding steady! Not always under the usual conditions, but they are holding steady. A feat that commands respect! Let us also salute the contribution of those “heavy” network users, VoD suppliers, print media publishers… who are doing their part. And especially to all of the users who have taken it upon themselves to switch from 4G to Wi-Fi, staggering video viewing across the day, and waiting patiently for their mail or parcels to arrive. Thank you!

The Arcep manifesto of “networks as a common good” is not a mere statement of principle. It is a profound reality, made manifest by this mobilisation of each and everyone of us, by this sense of shared purpose.

It is also an imperative that we, as regulator, will continue to honour throughout the crisis, to ensure a continuity of service, including for the most vulnerable among us, accessibility for people with disabilities, to keep users informed, protect the secrecy of correspondence and net neutrality… On this last point, I would like to reiterate how fully net neutrality is a cardinal rule in network governance. It is to some extent the “law of the crowd” versus the “law of the strongest” versus the arbitrary. Arcep is committed to ensuring this principle remains in full force under the current singular circumstances.

And, finally, we are working to prepare for what comes next, once all of this is over. To confirm an unwavering drive to outfit our country with competitive telecoms networks, massively and rapidly: to connect every household, every SME with optical fibre, and deploy 4G wherever it is still needed; to launch 5G while ensuring balanced regional rollouts. We must also subject technology to a greater sense of accountability, particularly from an environmental perspective. And bring back to the fore the need to expand telecoms regulation to include devices’ operating systems, those powerful network checkpoints that no watchdog is watching. A host of challenges then, to which we will respond with a full-throated belief: networks as a common good.

Sébastien Soriano, Chairman of Arcep

► Read the Post - Public Health Crisis Special Issue

New cooperation initiatives between Arcep and CSA

Because of their respective mandates, Arcep and French broadcasting authority, CSA, are regularly required to engage in a dialogue and cooperate on issues that fall under both authorities’ purview. This takes place as much in the periodic regulators’ meetings as in a bilateral fashion, notably as part of mutual requests for input. So it was that CSA recently solicited Arcep’s opinion on upgrading the digital terrestrial TV (DTT) platform, an issue that is currently the subject of a public consultation.

Beyond that, and given the challenges raised by the digital transition, Sébastien Soriano and I wanted to develop new forms of cooperation as part of an agreement that we will be signing in the coming weeks. A joint Arcep – CSA unit will be tasked with deepening the technical and economic analysis of digital markets that fall under both authorities’ purview, as much in terms of usage and distribution, as the relationships between stakeholders and value chains. Lending the two authorities’ combined expertise to the task, the concrete manifestation of this cooperation will include joint studies and publications. It could also involve other stakeholders such as CNIL and France’s Competition Authority.

We have also begun to work together on protecting minors against pornographic content on the internet. Assembled by the Government in December, the concerned operators agreed to take action, under the aegis of Arcep and CSA. These operators are being called upon to deploy an information portal on parental control systems, which are often not activated. Together, Arcep and CSA will form a monitoring committee, to track the progress of these efforts.

As Professor Frison-Roche said, inter-regulation – which has become vital in today’s digital universe – seeks to “set solutions in motion”: this is precisely the frame of mind that underpins Arcep and CSA’s collaboration.

Roch-Olivier Maistre, President of CSA

► Read The Post n° 35

5G: kick-off time at last…

At the latest Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one topic completely overshadowed all the rest: 5G was arriving at last. And not only would it usher in a swath of innovations as every new generation does but, the predictions told us, 5G would actually usher in a new era. It would enable the advent of connected objects (machine-to-machine), it would abolish latency (or almost) thanks to the power of edge computing, and so opening the way for myriad applications across the board, from video games to more highly technical fields such as remote surgery. Finally, this new fifth generation would be a crucial asset in supporting and amplifying manufacturing and its smart factories of the future…

So soaring was the paean that one would be forgiven for being a little sceptical… And yet, all of the pieces are gradually falling into place. When it has reached full maturity (and broken its ties with 4G), the advent of 5G will mark a far more fundamental change than the arrival of 4G or 3G had been. And this is why, when setting the terms conditions for awarding these frequencies, Arcep took a significantly different approach to the previous frameworks.

If the technology is structure-giving, if it is a tool of economic development, it needs to irrigate the regions. Something that must be thought out and organised at the planning stage. This is why the coverage obligations included in the terms and conditions attached to licences to use 3.4-3.8 GHZ band frequencies are far greater than those put into place when launching previous mobile network generations… and are no doubt among the most ambitious in Europe, if not beyond. Arcep has also set ambitious targets for covering roadways and ensuring indoor coverage, to fully satisfy consumers’ true expectations, be they individuals or businesses.

Because 5G will only be a success if everyone is on board: this means that EMF exposure issues need to be resolved through dialogue, consultation and education. This may also mean that we will need to use 5G properly, responsibly, one might say greenly, as we become increasingly aware that the digital tech universe clearly needs to be concerned about its ecological footprint and how to control it.

So, yes, it is kick-off time for 5G… but this is only the beginning. Dare I paraphrase a former Prime Minister by saying that, “the road may be straight, but it has a steep slope”?

Emmanuel Gabla, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read The Post n° 34

En route for print media distribution regulation

The Law on the modernisation of print media distribution, which reforms the “Bichet Act”, recently came into force in France. It confirms the fundamental principles that govern the print media sector, while also introducing new structural provisions to ensure it runs smoothly. And it gives Arcep the responsibility to regulate it.

Arcep runs on a culture of dialogue. We are committed to listening fully to each and every stakeholder: publishers, of both daily newspapers and magazines, encompassing news, general interest, specialised and entertainment publications equally. But also players involved in distribution, the delivery companies and news agents, distributors and retailers who interact with readers, the nuts and bolts of the nationwide system. The sector’s players can already contact the Arcep department in charge of print media distribution, by sending an e-mail to: distribution-presse(at)arcep.fr.

Building on the work done in the past by the Regulatory authority for press distribution (ARDP) and the High Council of press distribution (CSMP), we are committed to making the interests of readers, as both consumers and citizens, our core tenet, to ensure that they have broad nationwide access to a diverse and high quality print media, at an affordable price. One of the very first tasks will be to examine the choices to give print media consumers, working in tandem with all of the industry professionals, but especially with news agents who are not always able to display all of the publications available.

It is with humility and ambition, but also with pride, that we undertake this new responsibility.  

Monique Liebert-Champagne and François Lions, Arcep Executive Board members

► Read The Post n° 33

WRC-19: what is at stake?

The biggest challenge at the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) – taking place in Egypt from 28 October to 22 November – will be revising the regulatory framework in a way that encourages technological innovation with the deployment of IMT-2020 (5G), the stations installed on High Altitude Platforms (HAPs) and non-geostationary satellites, while continuing to protect existing services. In addition to vital questions relating to transport (sea, ground and air) safety, earth observation, weather forecasting and climate monitoring will also be examined.

New players’ interest in obtaining frequencies above 24 GHz will also be discussed. Coming from economic sectors (health, security, automotive industry, utilities, heavy industry, etc.) other than telecommunications, these new players want access to high-range frequencies. This demand is tied primarily to uses enabled by 5G that require ultra low latency and high reliability, very high speed connections and the ability to connect a large number of devices. Frequency ranges between 24, 25 GHz and 86 GHz offer the ability to have wide frequency bands that could satisfy some of these new players’ spectrum needs.

Mario Maniewicz, Director of the ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau

Key events for the spectrum world, the purpose of World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) is to amend the Radiocommunications Act, an international treaty between ITU member states that aims to facilitate fair and equal access to radio spectrum and to geostationary and non geostationary satellite orbits, and to address potential interference between radio systems in different countries. The conference is held every four years, and follows an agenda that is decided at the previous WRC. The National Frequency Agency (ANFR) will head up the French delegation of which Arcep will be a member.

► Read The Post n°32

On not seeing the forest for the stick 

There is no one way to regulate. Since the political decision to open the telecom sector up to competition more than twenty years ago, Arcep has been patiently constructing regulation that one could qualify as pragmatic. By focusing on the future rather than punishing past transgressions; by opening the way for entrepreneurs with an open-minded approach; by combining the best of private investment and local government initiative, all while ensuring a reasonable transition for what was once France Telecom. Our actions are not driven by any underlying ideology, our sole purpose being to provide the people of France with high quality and plural communication networks that are widely available nationwide, and at competitive prices.

The Board has followed the same trajectory over the past several years: by working to secure a demanding but progressive evolution of the roaming agreement between Free and Orange; by proposing an unprecedented New Deal for Mobile to the Government; by reaching an agreement with Orange rather than imposing obligations on its fibre rollouts; by issuing demanding but constructive opinions on AMII (areas where the Government has issued a call for investment letters of intent) and AMEL (calls for expressions of interest for local projects) procedures…

In some instances, our European neighbours have chosen different paths: imposing functional separation of the incumbent carrier; widespread fibre rollouts by local authorities; top-down LLU pricing; high-priced frequency auctions… 

France’s telecoms market is regularly held up as an example in both Europe and around the world. If operators should be the first to take credit for this – with men and women who are working every day on deploying networks and outfitting the country – Arcep’s pragmatic regulation has also had a hand in it.

But pragmatism is not something that can be decreed. It requires stakeholders to have enough trust in the system’s solidity to commit to it, to “play the game”. Arcep’s penalty procedure – which, it should be remembered, has only resulted in actual penalties in exceptional cases – plays a decisive role here. Not for its own sake, but to create this trust and shared momentum. The best example is the competition and network coverage commitments that operators can make. Without oversight or penalties, these commitments would be words on paper. 

The regulator’s stick hides the French model’s forest. Disputing Arcep’s power to impose penalties, even though it was recently reinstated after having been rescinded on the grounds that it was unconstitutional – and we can be confident that the current text has solid legal standing – is not simply a litigation procedure. It means defying the pragmatic spirit of regulation à la française.

Arcep’s Board

► Read The Post n°31

Growing the clientele, ensuring their satisfaction, verifying suppliers’ products and services, diversifying the supply chain, overseeing the company’s operations and production quality, handling its financial management and accounting, motivating staff, hiring, keeping pace with the latest innovations… are just some of the jobs a company head needs to do, including those who run micro, small and medium businesses.

Today, all of these functions rely heavily on digital tools: e‑commerce, cloud, cooperative tools, State-as-a-platform services… making network connectivity all the more vital. Networks too are in the throes of their own revolution (FttH, IoT, PSTN switch-off...), largely in a drive to improve services, but sometimes at the price of rendering things more complex.

Arcep has made the business connectivity market one of its top priorities. It is working to open up a broader range of choice for every enterprise, as much in terms of technologies as quality and pricing tiers.

It also wants to give SME company heads the means to leverage competition between operators: this is the purpose of the “BUSINESS TELECOMS – Internet, fixed and mobile telephone services: a practical guide to choosing the right products” produced in collaboration with a host of partners.

France boasts one of the world’s most competitive telecoms markets for consumers: the same must be true for small and medium enterprises!

François Lions, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read The Post n°30

9.8 billion euros, increasing by 40% in four year: operators’ investments testify to a sizeable and ongoing push in spending, which is vital to meeting the country’s needs.

But what do these figures actually means for people in France? The benefits are clear: rollouts are progressing nationwide, network coverage and quality levels are both on the rise. They are making it possible to monitor how users’ behaviour is evolving and enable enterprises in their digital transformation. From a very concrete perspective, the regions are benefiting more and more from fibre access, whose progress in 2018 and the steady pace of deployment were the main sources of increased spending this year. 13.5 million homes passed for fibre, which represents an additional 7.9 million access lines installed in three years. Spending on mobile networks has meant that users are enjoying broader 4G coverage, which now extends to 65% of the country (+20 points YoY). A progression that is keeping pace with the explosion of mobile use in France, and data traffic that has doubled.

Up next: 5G. Arcep will remain committed to pro-investment regulation, once again pushing operators to ensure nationwide coverage and connectivity.

Joëlle Cottenye, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read The Post n°29

The State must be able to reinvent itself, to stay with the times and fulfil its duties

At the heart of our relationship with the State lies an aporia: as the guarantor of the general interest, the State is at the root of our social contract, but it is also vilified by those who view government action as the root of all our current evils.

This gives way to two conclusions: the State is and must remain a central force in rising to the challenges our country is facing today; but it must also be able to reinvent itself, to modernise and reform to keep pace with our changing world and to meet citizens’ needs.

The birth of regulatory authorities is one example of a successful change in the institutional landscape, and one that must now be put fully to work: the rising influence of these authorities does not render “traditional” government obsolete. It remains the irreplaceable guarantor of fundamental balances.

The culture of norms that too often reigns in an administration also needs to be challenged when it does not always achieve the necessary progress on the ground. In an ever-changing economic, social and technological environment, public policymakers need to take government action that is both responsible and bold. In particular, this means changing the way the public sector works, to encourage innovation within government agencies.

There is a tremendous wellspring of energy and intelligence in the public sector. Which needs to be mobilised and especially deployed to the right places, to come in line with citizens’ expectations, and underpin a more adaptable society capable of meeting the challenges of our times.

Bruno Lasserre, Vice-President of the Conseil d’Etat

► Read The Post n°28

When the telecommunications regulatory authority was created, just over 20 years ago, its mandate was to open the telecoms market up to competition. Its responsibilities have expanded since then, and Arcep has become a major player in regional digital development. They key issues today: developing fibre access nationwide and improving both local and mobile connectivity.

Things are moving forward on both fronts, thanks to operators’ massive investments, local authorities’ commitments and the State’s proactive approach. Arcep has an important part to play here, in encouraging operators to invest but also in ensuring that they are meeting their commitments and obligations:

• for fixed services, this includes operators’ commitments in those parts of the country where the Government has issued a call for investment letters of intent (called “zones AMII” in French), and in areas targeted by calls for expressions of interest for local projects (“zones AMEL”) and in areas covered by private investment;  
• for mobile services, this includes tracking the progress of the New Deal by giving local authorities and users the tools they need to assess operators’ efforts.

In a number of regions, investments need to be coordinated or pooled to avoid inefficient network overlaps or coverage holes. Nobody must be overlooked: telecoms networks, which are an essential infrastructure for the economy and for guaranteeing the freedom to communicate, must benefit everybody and develop as a common good.

On 26 March, Arcep will be play host to decision-makers, local authorities and operators for its Smart Territories conference, whose theme this year will be Commitment. Commitment from everyone, for the benefit for the economy and regional development.

Monique Liebert-Champagne, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read the Post n° 27

The internet that we once dreamed of is now under threat. This free and open platform, a common good for all humanity, fostering open access to information, education and culture for everyone, and enabling permissionless innovation is today having to contend with a host of dangers:

• the proliferation of cyber threats, disinformation and interference in democratic processes, the internet being used to commit crimes or abet terrorism, all of which are now a serious menace and triggering a new kind of arms race;
• the virtual monopolies enjoyed by certain companies, against which the usual regulatory tools appear ill-suited and hard to enforce, and the impact of business models built around grabbing and keeping users’ attention;
• the swift rise of certain new areas of research, such as artificial intelligence, which require collective thinking about the ethics and social values that must guide these developments.

To tackle these dangers, France has embarked on a deeply committed diplomatic mission to promote openness, net neutrality, a safe and stable cyberspace, the protection of fundamental rights, including privacy, and safeguard democracy.

But a commitment from the State alone is not enough to achieve these goals. It requires a commitment from everyone: businesses, civil society, research. The battle is far from over, and things are heating up…

Henri Verdier, France’s Ambassador for Digital Affairs

►Read the Post n° 26

European regulators and the Code - new tools, same role

In 2018, I took over the Chairmanship of BEREC from Sébastien Soriano, who held this position in 2017. What we shared in our role was the focus on the negotiations on the new European Electronic Communications Code. While in 2017 BEREC adopted its position on the Commission proposal, it was my task to reply to the many compromise proposals tabled until an agreement was found mid-2018. In the meantime the Code has entered into force and has to be transposed into national law.

Many discussions are already taking place about the impact of the new tools foreseen in the Code like Wholesale-only, Co-investment and symetric regulation. To me, these new rules signal a shift in paradigm that apparently is about to take place in the market. What was perceived impossible economically just a few years ago, that new third infrastructures are being built, can be observed in ever more markets.

Operators join forces to co-invest in fibre, Open Access fibre networks are popping up across Europe, getting the backing from investors. This is good news for Europe and an encouraging development with its sustainability still to be shown. However, also in this changing landscape the challenge of regulators remains to stay vigilant and to safeguard effective competition, being the best driver for efficient investment. With new tools at hand and drawing on 20 years of experience I think we are well prepared for this task.

Johannes Gungl, BEREC Chairman 2018, CEO for Telecommunications and Postal Services of the Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and Telecommunications

► Read The Post n° 25

The first mobile phone call was made in 1973, a mere 45 years ago. Several generations of mobile technology have followed since then… and at an increasingly accelerated pace as demand for applications and connectivity has grown. Today, the starting pistol for the global 5G race has already been fired, even though 4G rollouts are not yet complete!

5G is as much an evolution as a revolution. Evolution because its first stated uses will focus on increasing the density of 4G networks and completing ultrafast mobile coverage. But 5G’s promised innovations, flexibility and spectacular gains in speed will also make it an industrial revolution: a tremendous enabler of vertical industries’ digitisation, which will be the main 5G market next to consumers. This economic challenge makes its swift deployment a national imperative.

Here, France is still on track. Frequency allocations are well underway: the 700 MHz band has already been allocated, procedures for the C and L and mmWave bands could take place in 2019, and commercial launches in 2020. But frequencies are not the be all and end all. Organising new ecosystems and conducting vital use case trials also require both operators and vertical industry stakeholders to step up: a full commitment from everyone – to test economic use cases as much as technical feasibility – is crucial.

Arcep is well aware that it has a role not merely that of frequency allocator, but also one of facilitator. And it is fully committed to that role, deploying the needed resources and setting a demanding timetable. So the ball is now in economic stakeholders’ court. It is up to them to ensure the successful transition to the industries and services of the future.

Pierre-Jean Benghozi, Arcep Executive Board Member

► Read The Post n° 24

Telecoms and audiovisual: the first step to getting along, is listening

Some portray audiovisual media and telecommunications as brothers at war. I don’t see it that way. Networks and the creative process form a virtuous circle wherein each feeds to the other’s bounty. In today’s world dominated by Big Tech, the future audiovisual act is an opportunity to offer up a shared vision, one that goes beyond the “narcissism of petty differences” we can sometimes get stuck in by the issues we tackle on a daily basis. It is in this spirit that Arcep has made three proposals to enable audiovisual services to be masters of their destiny in the digital transformation.

This is the same state of mind that drives Arcep when considering the future of digital terrestrial TV (DTT). Having reflected on the consequences that changing user habits, the growing popularity of TV over IP boxes, on mobiles or simply online have had on terrestrial broadcasting reception (rooftop antennae), in June Arcep proposed putting an end to 12 years of regulating broadcasting service provider, TDF. Does it make sense to maintain a pro-competition action confined to only terrestrial technology, in perpetuity, at a time when more and more avenues are being used to broadcast TV programmes, at the expense of terrestrial? Would it not be wiser to provide these avenues with the guarantee that they too can access these new options under good conditions?

This proposal nevertheless surprised stakeholders, and Arcep is committed to being a good listener. The regulator must send out the right signals to support technological transitions, but also to set the right pace. This is why Arcep ultimately decided to postpone its decision for two years, during which time the current regulation will remain in effect, and so give stakeholders the time they need to make the transition. This decision will result in the publication of a new document in the coming weeks.
In exchange, Arcep is calling on industry stakeholders and public authorities to listen to the warning it is sending out about the emergence of new intermediaries between TV channels and viewers. Currently required to negotiate with ISPs for access to their boxes, TV channels – which will increasingly become apps not only on the TV screen, but also on other screen-based devices and smart speakers – will have to negotiate with the internet giants to be able to reach TV viewers. With the resulting danger that our shared culture will have to bow down to the almighty market overlords.

If thriving innovation starts off as a good thing, let us also keep in mind that, in the past, we were able to extract from the rules that govern the market, methods for distributing cultural content, and to guarantee a principle of free and universal access to knowledge. This is the idea of cultural exception, which we find reflected in the single price charged for books, press distribution, and to some extent net neutrality as well. This is the principle that needs to be revived for the digital age, so that we can continue to come together over a shared culture.

Sébastien Soriano, Chairman of Arcep

► Read The Post n°23

Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been in effect for scarcely four months, but its ripple effects are already being felt.

For businesses, this means adapting more fully to this new data-centric culture in which protecting people’s privacy and innovation need to go in hand in hand to build an environment of trust. Clearly a massive effort to be made, especially by SMEs, but I’m convinced that it is a winning move for Europe which has chosen here the path of ethical and sustainable growth.

The ripple effects also include the normative influence that Europe is having on this issue. California recently adopted a law that draws its inspiration from the European model. Japan signed an adequacy agreement with Europe during the summer to facilitate data transfers, and Argentina is working on a similar law.

A ripple effect too for the people who have embraced these new rights and are counting on regulatory authorities to enforce them. In France, data protection authority CNIL saw a 56% jump in customer complaints in four months.

CNIL needs to be able to support and channel the mighty impact of the GDPR, keeping pace with the power of digital technology and the expectations it fosters. This is a considerable challenge for our institution, set at the crossroads of potentially sizeable economic and strategic conflicts.

And a challenge that is not ours alone but a collective one, as it is vital that European authorities cooperate on all cross-border issues.

Diplomacy, regulation and pragmatism will need to work as one to ensure the GDPR can keep its promises.

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, Chair of CNIL

► Read The Post n°22

Why the net neutrality debate remains relevant

On June 13 this year, BEREC and TRAI released a joint statement on net neutrality.

Why was it important for the two bodies to come together on this issue? For a variety of reasons, and especially due to the interplay of opposing tensions inherent in the policy:

1. Net neutrality is easy to explain in the inexact language of everyday use. But difficult to describe with the precision that would stand up to legal scrutiny.
2. Any deviation from the principle is blasphemy to its supporters, but the policy must admit exceptions in practice. Even Tim Wu’s seminal paper brings that out.
3. There can be a desire to allow exceptions where the objective is benevolent. Yet, the same exception could, and often does, lead to pernicious outcomes in identical other cases.

An effort to find common ground, and also appreciating the differences, deepens our understanding of the nature of the problem. For instance, BEREC favours the case-by-case, ex post approach to zero rating, whereas TRAI has opted for an ex-ante ban. But in India, the low prices of data and generous usage caps make marginal use of data zero-rated anyway!

The Joint Declaration and the MOU signed at the 35th BEREC Plenary would help regulators in Europe and India work together in developing tools for monitoring the violations and in sharing data. This collaboration is necessary not only for enforcement actions but also for developing policy more suitable for pipes that are no longer dumb.

Net neutrality is to data pipes what an alloying element is to physical pipes: protects the pipes from the build-up of corrosion, thus keeping them clean and robust.

TRAI Chairman RS Sharma

► Read The Post n°21

Agreement on European telecoms rules: what of fibre rollouts?

A political agreement was reached on 6 June between the representatives of European institutions on the review of Europe’s Electronic Communications Code. Promoting access to broadband and superfast broadband networks via fixed and mobile “very high-capacity networks” is one of the stated objectives.

One of the key issues for France regarding fixed superfast network rollouts was to keep the existing framework, while consolidating the (notably symmetric) regulatory tools that have been in place for ten years now, to facilitate fibre deployments.

After lively debates between the proponents of competition and those in favour of a regulatory holiday to bolster investments in the new networks, the Code upholds the regulator’s ability to take action with respect to the SMP operator, while recognising how co-investment agreements can benefit the market, under certain conditions.

Ultimately, on this crucial matter, the new code draws its inspiration from our experience in regulating FttH here in France. So we will no see any dramatic chances to the regulatory framework that is already in place.

In addition to the issue of FttH network rollouts, the new code also seeks to adapt to new digital challenges. It also aims to lay the groundwork for closer collaboration between regulators in Europe within BEREC.

Philippe Distler, Arcep Executive Board Member

► Read The Post n°20

Net neutrality in Canada, and why it matters in the digital age

Net neutrality is an issue that has people across the planet stirred up. The massive increase in data traffic has led inexorably to traffic management issues. But, as consumers turn to digital platforms, it is paramount that they be able to make their own choices, take advantage of innovation and exchange their ideas freely.

In Canada, we have had a clear regulatory framework on the matter since 2009, the year we began regulating internet traffic management practices.

In addition, a new policy has been in place since 2017 that governs differential pricing practices, which is an issue that arises when identical or similar products are being sold to customers at different prices. When internet service providers (ISP) set different prices depending on the content, they are exercising a degree of influence over consumers’ choice of certain content. As a result, the CRTC stipulated that ISPs had to treat all data use equally.

We therefore have a rigorous framework in place and firmly support net neutrality. That being said, we also recognise that any regulatory provisions surrounding net neutrality must be flexible enough to adapt to the changes ushered in by new technologies. The future no doubt holds challenges in this area, particularly with the development of 5G and the Internet of Things.

We believe that net neutrality is essential because we believe that it is, above all, in the best interests of the Canadian public.

Ian Scott, Chair of Canadian regulator, CRTC

► Read The Post n°19

Data have become a central part of all of today’s economic and societal debates. We are only just starting to gauge the possibilities being opened up by the use of these massive quantities of data, which are an increasingly integral part of how businesses and markets operate. But what is also still only nascent is public authorities’ awareness of the ways in which data are being used, with respect to codes of conduct, consumer protection, privacy protection and competition law.

Employing users’ data to optimise online advertising is a good example of how the situation is changing. The ability to deliver targeted ads to an internet user based on their centres of interest, as revealed by their browsing habits, has revolutionised the online advertising sector. At the same time, the internet is becoming the largest advertising medium, and so underscoring the growing influence that digital networks have on our lives. Advertising needs to go after consumers wherever they spend their time, get their news or seek entertainment, and where, more and more, they go to shop for goods and services. At the same time, today’s advertising is a whole new animal: we can now send a highly targeted ad that zeroes in on a single person and the thing she is interested in at that moment. To this end, having access to data and to technologies that provide the ability to tailor advertisements to the website that users are visiting, in real time, has become vital to remaining competitive. Certain players are especially well equipped to go into battle. After having having analysed how the online advertising sector operates, the Competition Authority identified the reasons behind the current success of companies such as Facebook and Google. But, when it comes to exploring this topic with respect to competition issues, or in terms of privacy concerns or safeguarding against political campaign meddling, we are still in the early stages…

Isabelle de Silva, Chair of France’s Competition Authority

► Read The Post n°18

Identification at the heart of communications: we want to know who we’re talking to!

Back in the day, our phone numbers let others know where we were and who we were. Now, with our mobile phones, the notion of location has vanished and given rise to the perpetual question: “Where are you?”. And online apps have done away with phone numbers: the original “06” prefix assigned to mobiles in France has been replaced by the app ID. And the process of calling is more and more feature-rich, with video, end-to-end encryption, and so on. Today, new applications allow users to have several numbers on a single phone, a direct line to a single party, etc.

It nevertheless remains that the “classic” telephone offers the real advantage of interconnecting different systems, whereas apps still require every user to be employing the same application. Which, in turn, gives us a range of identities: Skype, WhatsApp, G-hangout, Facebook…

Why not then examine the means used to communicate these identities, and thereby keep the old systems’ good qualities, before declaring them obsolete?

Serge Abiteboul, Arcep Board member

► Read The Post n°17

And what if we no longer had to walk to the end of the garden to make a call?

The Government reached an historic agreement with operators, thanks to the wide-reaching collaborative work that Arcep performed over the course of several months. One of these measures has gone almost unnoticed: Wi-Fi calling and texting. Even though we are all well aware of the trope — and recurring complaint made against operators – of having head to the bottom of the garden in the pouring rain just to get a signal. While it is true that coverage in rural areas will improve considerably, indoor connectivity will sometimes remain spotty.

This is why this new agreement provides for ubiquitous indoor coverage thanks to the use of Wi-Fi calling. This means that, regardless of your operator, you will be able to make calls on your mobile via your home box starting this year (and starting in late 2019 with Free). But, you might say, if I have a box, why use my mobile to call instead of my landline? Well, because everyone today uses their mobile to make calls: it is the device of choice for making calls and for accessing the web, and the only device used to send text message.

Once your operator has activated the Wi-Fi calling and SMS option (which, depending on the phone you have, is found in “settings” or “preferences”), you can call and text from home, provided your mobile phone is a recent enough model.

Monique Liebert-Champagne, Arcep Board member

► Read The Post n°16

2018: preparing for the future

Arcep’s change in tack, begun in 2015, has translated into actions and results.

Pro-investment regulation has enabled the telecoms sector to get back on track. Arcep will continue firmly on this path in 2018, and will put its guidelines into action in the field. Decisive steps forward will be taken on fibre regulation, the business market and data-driven regulation. The announcement of a new deal for mobile is paving the way for a major paradigm shift, which will need to translate into rapid rollouts.

The positive momentum in the sector means that we now need to prepare for the future. France cannot waste its talent by constantly seeking to make up for lost time.

Arcep wants to be a regulator that unleashes power and energy, and throws open the doors for all the innovators – and I mean ALL the innovators. By supporting Internet of Things start-ups with its regulatory sandbox, and by keeping stakeholders informed about unlicensed frequencies. By galvanising the momentum around 5G, not only operators but every potential user of verticals (industries, infrastructures, public amenities). By guaranteeing the right to permissionless innovation on the internet, by upholding the crucial principle of net neutrality, and, looking beyond, by tackling the issue of devices (smartphones, tablets, voice assistants).

Watch Sébastien Soriano’s hearing with the National Assembly Economic Affairs Committee (in French)

Arcep’s pro-investment regulation, in detail (in French)

Arcep’s 2018 innovation-centric New Year’s message, in the era of Europe and a new deal for mobile

Sébastien Soriano, Chairman of Arcep

► Read The Post n°15

Those opposed to an open, neutral and innovative internet have more than one trick up their sleeve. To flush out unwelcome behaviour, Arcep wanted to analyse the ways in which devices and their operating systems could hamper users’ ability to access and contribute to the various online content and applications: users cannot have access to all of the content available online, and technical or pricing restrictions can limit the deployment or supply of an application. By the same token, barriers to switching can impede the freedom of users wanting to switch from one device to another.

Arcep has taken up the task of mapping out possible courses of action, by consulting with stakeholders, to better understand the mechanisms at work, inform users and encourage the emergence of the conditions required to ensure an open internet.

Françoise Benhamou, Member of the Arcep Executive Board

► Read The Post n°14

Competition and investment in network industries

Everything today is getting connected to the Internet, from e-Health, to connected cars and precision farming. We need to offer high-speed Internet connections and ensure widespread 5G mobile access.

A lot of the necessary investment will result from competition; there is no trade-off between competition and investment. To the contrary, competition is a key driver for investment in telecoms networks. When companies compete fiercely, they invest, and in turn spur their competitors to invest. Take, as an example, alternative operators, which have invested billions in infrastructure in France, Italy or Spain.

We are confident that the European Commission's proposed Electronic Communications Code would help to cut the cost of building new networks. It would encourage telecoms companies to build joint networks in the countryside – with the help of public funds – where it wouldn't be profitable for them to invest on their own. Our state aid rules make it easier for governments to support that investment. We support appropriate mapping of network deployment, as this helps to channel public support to the areas most in need.

At the same time, investment is not an end in itself, as investment as such does not directly benefit consumers. It is the impact of investment on parameters of competition, such as lower prices, better quality of service or greater take-up of telecoms services that translates into consumer benefits.

The recent launch by ARCEP of a platform allowing consumers to signal issues encountered with telecoms operators is a welcome example of how authorities can directly help consumers.

Margrethe Vestager, Commissioner for Competition

► Read The Post n°13

To assist the government in its digital transition, this year Sciences Po and its School of Public Affairs inaugurated a "Public Policy Incubator".

A purely technological approach is not enough when designing the State as a platform for the 21st century: a digital revolution is above all a political, social, ethical, economic, etc. revolution. By bringing together all of these components, this education includes learning about digital culture and its core issues and challenges, areas of disruption, ethical and legal aspects, data, new technologies and information systems. It also means teaching a new culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and management, paving the way for a culture of innovation and fostering the ability to tap into the power of the crowd when designing public policies.

It is vital to provide business incubator facilities, where students and researchers can work together on achieving concrete, needs-based solutions that will have a direct impact on the lives of citizens.

The only thing this innovation-centric programme – which is open to all government agencies, local authorities, businesses and members of civil society – needs now are your suggestions and contributions!

Yann Algan, Dean of the Sciences Po School of Public Affairs

► Read The Post n°12

Duality and convergence

Today, access to telecommunications is provided through dual infrastructures: fixed networks on the one hand, and mobile ones on the other. Both are in the throes of profound technological development: optical fibre rollouts for fixed networks, and 5G for mobile.

Arcep does not favour either of the two faces of this telecoms Janus over the other: the investments required in the coming years must deliver both the superfast access enabled by fibre to everyone nationwide, and significantly improve mobile network coverage and availability. It should also be said that the two technologies complete one another, and so achieve a form of convergence. To give one simple example: it is easy to imagine smart devices choosing the best routing path for calls and data in real time: Wi-Fi then fixed or mobile network access.

Jacques Stern, Member of the Arcep Executive Board

► Read The Post n°11

The internet has become an indispensable part of our daily lives and an essential economic infrastructure, but above all a space of freedom, exchange, trade and sharing. Some of us are old enough to remember the tremendous Web revolution initiated by Mosaic 25 years ago, which opened the doors to a new digital Library of Alexandria for each and everyone of us.

If the internet is built on a distributed and decentralised architecture, guarantor of resilience, freedom and innovation, the emergence of heavyweight players along the technical and information chain is creating a potential risk of new strongholds being erected.

In its 2015 regulation on the open internet, the European legislator enshrined this cardinal principle of freedom to access and distribute information and content, to use and provide applications and services without discrimination, via their internet access services, by imposing net neutrality obligations on operators, under the supervision of national regulators.

Arcep and its European counterparts are firmly committed to the task. On 30 May Arcep published its first report on the state of the internet in France, which explores this major issue.

Philippe Distler, Member of the Arcep Executive Board

► Read The Post n°10

Digital anthropology!

Our planet emits weak signals that humans no longer or have never known how to interpret. Billions of sensors dispersed across the globe will fuel the cloud and feed the algorithms that will allow us to anticipate events, and diminish risks by controlling their causes. Here, AI will help reduce disorder and render the second law of thermodynamics obsolete, and so create a less chaotic world!

Looked at this way, we can consider IoT a component of augmented reality, as humans will now have a weak-signal interpreter at their fingertips, right there on their mobile phone!

Ludovic LE MOAN, CEO of Sigfox

► Read The Post n°9

No half measures when it comes to investment

Is there a “magic number” for the operator population in a given market: one that makes it possible to combine low prices and high investment? This has been a longstanding conundrum in Brussels, where former monopolies and the leading banks are lobbying for greater consolidation. With the Commission’s Communications Code seeking to review existing directives, this somewhat fruitless debate is about to be overtaken by otherwise important, substantive work on the type of regulation capable of galvanising investment in the networks of tomorrow, and achieving complete coverage across Europe.

France in the meantime is in the process of finding, if not the perfect equation, at least a practical dynamic. The arrival of a fourth mobile operator has proven very successful for consumers, and a major shake-up for its competitors and the sector as a whole. But recently published figures from Arcep reveal an encouraging trend of stabilisation in the sector. More importantly still, that investments are on an upwards swing. Now that a new Government and Parliament are poised to take over the reins, we must not forget the impact that the latest mergers and acquisitions have had on investment, jobs, etc. So, in France as well, it is time to put talk of consolidation on hold, and focus instead on the major issues and challenges the sector is facing. Mobile coverage, fixed ultrafast access, 5G… therein lies the challenge.

Sébastien Soriano, Chairman of Arcep, Chairman of BEREC

► Read The Post n°8

monreseaumobile.fr is a new map service that has been available on the Arcep website since 22 March, allowing users to gauge mobile network performances with much greater accuracy. Still in the trial stage in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, its aim is to remedy the disparities that users have felt between existing coverage maps and the reality in the field.

A prime example of data-driven regulation, this initiative puts information at the heart of regulation and gives everyone the means to compare providers’ performances, and so to make informed choices. Arcep hopes this will trigger a virtuous circle for operators’ investments in their infrastructures.

This “heavy dose of transparency” for the mobile market is especially vital as 85% of the people in France use their mobile phones every day, which today relay two thirds of all voice calls.

Martine Lombard, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read The Post n°7

Welcome to the conversation era

Facebook Messenger has more active daily users than the Facebook app itself. Alexa and other voice-controlled assistants are taking up residence in the homes of millions of families. “Alexa, what’s the weather like outside?”, “Alexa, order milk for tomorrow”, “Alexa, tell us a joke”.

65% of Europeans and Americans no longer download mobile apps. Most of us use only five apps on a regular basis. Social media sites are saturated, as is our telephones’ memory. As screen time is becoming more duty than pleasure, and media and services’ business models are based more and more on their ability to capture and hold users’ attention, an alternative has already emerged: the conversation.

The exponential progress of artificial intelligence, users’ fatigue with the glut of apps and, more generally, the use of smartphones more as efficient tools and less as fun gadgets, have given rise to conversational interfaces, or rather non-interfaces. No more accounts to create or learning curves to climb: complexity has been handed over to the technology itself, machines interact with one another and try to understand users’ intention in order to serve them better.
 
These little robots, nestled into our favourite messaging app, are improving day by day and their use becoming more streamlined. At once a consumer service already embraced by millennials, and a business service adopted in the workplace, chatbots are garnering attention thanks to their discrete interface, their invisible design, their desire to deliver the right service, to the right person, at the right time, and then be forgotten.
 
Good news for your valuable attention, welcome to the conversation era.

Marjolaine Grondin, CEO, Jam

► Read The Post n°6

From the telephone modernisation plan of the 1970s to today’s superfast broadband plan, our country has proven its ability to mobilise around vast infrastructure projects. But, working as closely with those in the field as possible, regulation also needs to be agile to support the development of networks, SMEs’ digitisation, high quality and innovative services. In other words, it must be open to experimentation, to operators’ initiatives to satisfy the demand for efficiency being continually reiterated by citizens and businesses alike, for which “it is indispensable, vital… it has to work!

Pierre-Jean Benghozi, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read The Post n°5

"User experience rules"

For once, here's an expression that doesn't come from the French.

When Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page says that user experience rules, primes above all, they are expressing one of the most fundamental truths of this early part of the 21st century: the user experience is capable of creating new kinds of reality. When the experience of a chauffer-driven car is so much better than a taxi ride, we can always ban the chauffeur service but it will not be without repercussions. When an open source encyclopaedia like Wikipedia is much more accessible and wide-ranging that the good old Britannica, which was nonetheless compiled by the finest scientists on the planet, it creates new standards. Despite which States all too rarely take an experience-based approach, which some refer to as global design, remaining rooted instead in the realm of the theoretical. But the theoretical view will invariably much less closely match reality than actual, lived experience.

Of course, we could raise the objection that "user experience rules" approaches generally take only the interests of the few into consideration, and often those of highly capitalistic corporations. So this is the very area where work still needs to be done: having experience-based approaches that take all stakeholders into account, and which ultimately serve the common good. This is the spirit behind an initiative currently being mounted by the École des Affaires Publiques in Paris, in partnership with the Institut Montaigne and Epita. Allowing teams, immersed in high stakes social issues, to rethink the user experience with the help of digital technology, to enable more efficient government action, and possibly propose new normative approaches.

Gilles Babinet, Digital Champion - European Commission, entrepreneur

► Read The Post n°4

Many reasons are being put forth to explain the current rise of populism. Often cited is the fear of digital, the destruction of a model that is leaving people by the wayside: a not terribly creative destruction that goes against Schumpeterian predictions. On the flipside, we could postulate that by providing everyone, individuals and businesses alike, with a connection and an optimal quality of service, we diminish the feeling of being excluded. This would mean increased investments, especially in rural areas and for our most disadvantaged.

Françoise Benhamou, Arcep Executive Board member

► Read The Post n°3

The Digital Republic Act at a glance

The Digital Republic Act (loi pour une République Numérique), which was adopted a few days ago, seeks to stimulate digital growth but also to provide a framework to ensure it complies with fundamental principles, such as the right to privacy and copyright laws. It works to ensure that everybody in France has access to new technologies, with special measures for people with disabilities and those in a precarious situation. Several of its provisions strengthen the role played by supervisory bodies, such as CNIL and CADA. Arcep's own mandate has been reinforced and its powers strengthened by the Act. Deputy Luc Belot, Rapporteur for the Digital Republic Act

Deputy Luc Belot, Rapporteur for the Digital Republic Act

► Read The Post n°2

Welcome to THE POST, our new monthly rendez-vous. In it, you will find talk of regulation (a lot) and digital affairs (everywhere). Architect and guardian of internet, fixed and mobile telecoms and postal networks in France, through its actions Arcep continues to be a passionate contributor to the wider movement of the digital revolution.

Sébastien Soriano, Arcep Chairman

► Read The Post n°1